


Half Blood House

by ColdWater



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: (because I love it), Alternate Universe - College/University, Camp Half-Blood, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-14 20:52:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9202784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColdWater/pseuds/ColdWater
Summary: Percy meets Annabeth, and well, the inevitable follows.





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so chapter one is here! It's shorter than the others will be as it's more like a prologue, but the next chapter and those to come will be longer, so I hope you enjoy!

Annabeth was _done_ cleaning up after her housemates. She was finished with waking up to a dirty house and passed out drunks sleeping on her floor. As soon as she finished cleaning up she decided she was going to talk to them. She had been putting up with this for long enough, and wanted to enjoy her college experience without anyone sleeping in her room. This wasn't the fine time she had woken up to someone on her floor. She rolled her eyes and closed the door, going back to work.

When it seemed like all that was left was to take care of the person on her floor she went back, kneeling beside them and rolling them over. In his sleep he stirred for a moment, and she let out an exasperated sigh, hitting him in the stomach. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked up at her. He didn't seem to be aware that she had punched him and after an awkward hello he headed for the door, leaving without even telling her his name.

“There you are!” She heard a voice say. She went to the top of the stairs, and saw Rachel with her arms around his neck. _Figures_ , she thought to herself, picking up the trash bag she had been filling and heading for the still uncleaned bathroom. It was filthy, just as she had expected, and it took her almost an hour to get it cleaned up. When she finally emerged she went to Rachel and the others who lived in the house with her.

“Alright, this has gone on long enough.” Annabeth said as she dropped the garbage bags, “I've had enough of cleaning up after all of you, and Rachel, your boy toy fell asleep in my room, I had to kick him out this morning.”

“He's not my boy toy.” Rachel said defensively, “He's my boy _friend_.” She smirked as she said this, winking at Annabeth and heading for the stairs.

“That's it?” Annabeth said, “You're not even going to help me?”

“I got the kitchen clean.” She said, and Annabeth looked around, seeing the still cluttered mess before her.

“This isn't clean, and I'm not going to clean it.” She said, picking up the garbage bags and heading for the dumpster that their house and the neighbors shared. She sat beside it for a moment, and closed her eyes, loving the few seconds of silence she got to herself before going back to the chaos that she lived with.

“Your house seems like fun.” Annabeth opened her eyes and turned to the voice, finding a blonde boy who seemed to be her age, if not a year or two older, leaning on the fence, a garbage bag on the ground beside him.

“It's nice enough.” She said, it was one thing for her to get annoyed at her housemates, but someone else? Not okay. She crossed her arms over her chest as he laughed, picking up the bag of garbage and throwing it into the dumpster.

“I'm Luke.” He said holding out his hand, “Luke Castellan.” Annabeth allowed him to shake her hand and he smiled at her, “This is normally where you tell me who you are.”

“Annabeth Chase, I live next door, but I guess you already knew that...” She said as her eyes wandered back to her house.

“Well it's a pleasure to meet you Annabeth.” Luke said, “I hope we meet again.” Annabeth watched him go, confused by his nature, waiting until he was out of sight before going back to her house, falling onto the couch, finally done cleaning for the day.

She didn't know she had been sleeping until the sound of laughing woke her up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, sitting up and turning to the sound of the laughter. She found Rachel and Thalia sitting at the counter, eating leftovers from the party the night before, bare feet swaying as they dangled from the barstools that the girls sat at.

“Hey, Annabeth!” Rachel said, “Sorry about this morning, I would have helped clean up, but you didn't say anything, and I didn't actually go upstairs...” She was rambling, and Annabeth sighed.

“It's okay.” She said, “I don't mind that much, but it would be nice to have help in the future.” Rachel nodded and Thalia walked in, stretching her arms over her head. Annabeth liked her housemates, but Thalia was her best friend. She always came in at the right time.

“Morning everyone.” She said as she sat at the table, rubbing her eyes and running her hands through her short hair. “How did we all sleep?” She eyed Rachel who shrugged.

“Fine.” Rachel said, and Thalia looked at her with a knowing look.

“He passed out on Annabeth's floor.” Rachel deadpanned, “I have no stories to tell.” Thalia laughed and leaned back in her chair, instantly taking all tension from the room. The three girls talked for a while about classes and their housemates, Rachel eventually agreeing to clean the kitchen again while Annabeth went up to her room. It looked the same as it had since she had moved back to school a few weeks ago, her sophomore year beginning as she expected it would. Her eyes moved to the floor where she had found Rachel's boyfriend that morning and she sighed, her mind wandering over what she remembered from the night before, until her thoughts rested on a blonde head of hair she had seen in the kitchen. _Luke,_ she thought to herself, _He was here_. Annabeth wasn't quite sure why this excited her, but it gave her a sense of hope. Hope that she wouldn't have to wait too long before she saw him again, as Rachel and Thalia were already planning a party for the next weekend.

 

 


	2. Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this one is a little longer than the last chapter, and this is closer to what chapters in the future will be like. Enjoy!

“But it's a Saturday night, we can't just sit here!” Percy lay on the couch, phone resting on his chest as Grover paced back and forth in front of him.

“I really don't want to do anything tonight, and Rachel isn't texting me, and unless she does, I'm not going anywhere.” Percy smiled at Grover, who rolled his eyes and continued to pace.

“Well I'm going out and you can either sit here and sulk because your girlfriend won't text you, or you can come out with your best friend and have _fun_.” He was pleading, but he knew it was hopeless. Percy's phone vibrated on his chest and he picked it up, smiling at the screen.

“Alright Grover, you've convinced me.” He said, and sat up, quickly typing something and sending it, “I'll go out tonight, but I get to pick the party we go to.” He said, and Grover eyed him suspiciously.

“Why?” He asked, “Rachel having a parcheesi night?” Percy laughed and shook his head.

“Half Blood is having a house party.” Grover was surprised to hear this. The parties that happened at the Half Blood House were insane. It was one of the larger houses on campus, and while it was currently all girls, it hadn't always been. Grover had heard stories from some of the older students on campus about the kind of parties that went on there.

“Are you sure about this?” Grover asked, “Rachel's only lived there for three weeks, is she up for one of their parties?”

“Do you think they would have let her into the house if she wasn't?” Percy said, “And she'll be fine, she lives there, and she said one of the other girls in the house always makes sure she gets to bed safe.”

“Wow.” Grover said, and chuckled, “I wish you did that for me.”

“You never let me.” Percy countered, “Besides, is that really what you want? Me making sure you get to bed at a reasonable hour?”

“It's really not.” Grover said, and Percy went to take a shower, excited for the party to come.

For a while the friends wasted time together, idly eating snacks and waiting for the party to start.

“Why do these always start so late?” Percy asked, watching the clock go from 9:43 to 9:44, “Can't they have parties that end at a reasonable hour once in a while?” Grover laughed and grabbed the bag of chips Percy had been eating from and took a few for himself.

“Just because you're too lame to want to pregame doesn't mean the rest of the school is.” He said, “Good thing I stocked the fridge.” And he went to the small fridge in the corner, opening it up and revealing the opened and strategically placed 30 rack inside.

“How did you fit all of that in there?” Percy asked, holding out his hand for Grover to pass him one, “That's a work of art.”

“Lot's of practice in high school.” Grover said, “Boarding school teaches you a few things.” Percy laughed and opened his beer, drinking half of it as fast as he could, the taste almost as disgusting as he remembered. It wasn't long before both of them were tripping over themselves and laughing, looking at the clock to see it was almost midnight.

“We got to go!” Grover said, pulling another beer from the now half empty fridge, “We do _not_ want to be late for this party.” He smiled and opened his drink, heading for the door with Percy behind him. They made their way up the street from their dorm to Half Blood and walked in, the chaos that greeted them making Percy smile.

“Babe!” He heard Rachel's voice before he saw her, and she emerged from the crowd, smiling at him and kissing his cheek, a cup in her free hand. She wrapped an arm around his waist and led him through the crowd of people, heading for the kitchen area where some of her friends were.

“Okay, so you remember Thalia?” Rachel said, and Percy waved at the girl he remembered meeting a few days ago, her short black hair making her hard to forget and she waved at Percy from her place on the counter. “And Ann-Where did she go?” Rachel looked around for another one of her friends, Percy looked around to see if he recognized anyone. There were some people from the other houses, as well as his dorm, but other than Grover, who had already found a couch full of people to talk to, he didn't know anyone else besides Rachel. _Well, that's what I get for transferring._ He thought to himself, and even though he and Grover had become friends fast, he still wasn't at the point where he could just wave to anyone he saw at a party.

“She probably already went to sleep.” Another girl said, walking up beside Thalia, “She's not really the biggest fans of your parties.” She turned to Percy and stuck out her hand, “Clarisse, nice to meet you.” Percy took her hand and she squeezed it roughly, shaking it enthusiastically, “You must be Percy.” She turned to Rachel, “You're all she's been talking about since we got back to school.” Percy smiled at Rachel, who he had met over the summer, and had gotten to know over the fact that they would be going to the same school in the fall. For a while, Percy was content to stand at Rachel's side and listen to her talk to her friends, taking comfort in how they all seemed to welcome him into their group of friends.

But as the group began to get drunker, Percy found himself sitting with Grover at a table outside.

“Percy, my friend.” Grover said, patting him on the back, “Aren't you glad we decided to go out tonight?” Percy laughed and made sure Grover didn't fall down, all the while trying to keep himself from falling over. He didn't know anyone else, and could feel all the beer and liquor catching up with him fast. Grover began talking to some of his other friends from school, and Percy wandered around by himself for a while, eventually making his way upstairs, looking for Rachel. She had told him her room was the second door on the left, or was it the right? He stood for a few moments, looking at his options, and decided it was 50/50. The one on the right seemed more like Rachel. With a few pictures on the outside. But the one on the left was precise with angular shapes. He wanted to see what was inside. Opening the door slowly, he looked inside. It was clean, and much like the door itself was all right angles.

He closed the door behind him and fell against it, looking around.

“Rachel?” He whispered, but the person sleeping didn't move. He sat on the floor for a while, still mesmerized by the room around him, slowly falling to the floor and into sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, he didn't know where he was, why he was there, or who was standing above him. She was tall, with a hardened expression, her hands on her hips as she looked down at him with only slightly hidden disgust. She had blonde hair that curled around her face, strands that had pulled free of the ponytail that kept most of her hair back. Her eyes were gray, and it it wasn't for the expression on her face, Percy would have found her utterly breathtaking.

But instead of smiling at him, the girl straightened as soon as she saw he was awake and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Is this your room?” Percy asked, “I'm sorry I-” But before he could finish her eyes met his and she said, “You drool when you sleep.”

 

 


	3. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is probably how long most of the chapters will be, I hope you enjoy!

The week passed quickly for Annabeth. Her classes had begun to pick up, and she spent her afternoons with Rachel and Thalia, talking about school and friends, Rachel laying on the couch and texting Percy for hours as she giggled to her friends. Annabeth liked seeing Rachel so happy, and she was glad that her friend had found someone as sincere as Percy. Even though he had passed out on Annabeth's floor, she felt she could overlook this fact, as he had spent the entire night before that glued to Rachel's hip, talking to her friends.

“Do you think we should have a theme for the party tomorrow?” Thalia asked, looking at her phone, “Theme's are fun.”

“We could have a major's party.” Rachel said, and the others looked at her like she was crazy, “It's not a stupid sounding as you think.” She said and laughed, “It's where you have to wear a costume that has something to do with what you're studying. It's a great conversation starter, and I already have the perfect idea.”

“Oh?” Thalia said, “And what's that?”

“Well it's not for me, it's for Annabeth.”

“What?” Annabeth said, tearing her eyes away from the window and turning to her friends, “What idea about me?”

“A costume based on architecture.” Rachel said, “We can make you into a statue or something, it'll be great.”

“Or she could just wear glasses and a really trendy outfit.” Thalia said and she laughed as Annabeth rolled her eyes, “Isn't that was architects wear?” Rachel and Thalia laughed at Annabeth's expense for a moment longer before Rachel moved on, and Thalia remembered that she had something waiting for her in the toaster.

A few minutes later when all three were again sitting by the couch, Thalia spoke up again.

“Is this party going to have a theme or not?” Rachel looked at her and then to Annabeth, “We just talked about the theme. Majors.”

“But that's lame.” Thalia said, leaning back and resting her plate on her chest, “We need something good.”

“Well if you think my idea's _lame_ , then come up with one on your own.” Rachel put her phone down (to Annabeth's surprise) and looked at Thalia.

“I don't know.” Thalia said, “Just something that doesn't have to do with school.”

“Well.” Rachel said, and she continued to think, “It's pretty early in the year, what about beach. All the girls can wear bikinis, and it'll be great. What do you think Annabeth?”

“I like that better than majors.” Annabeth said, “I might even stay awake for this party.” She smiled at her friends as Rachel smiled contently, going back to her phone. Annabeth watched her for a few moments, and thought about the person on the other side. The dark haired stranger she had found on her floor. The one with the greenest eyes she had ever seen. She shook thoughts of Percy from her head and turned back to the window. The window only window in the house besides her own that allowed her to look to the house where Luke lived next door. She wondered if he would come to the party that weekend, and found herself looking forward to wearing something nice. Annabeth thought back to the last time she had been this excited for a party, and realized that it had been since the last semester that she had stayed at a party past 11:30 and was excited for the opportunity to do so again.

The preparations began soon, as Rachel and Thalia began to turn the backyard into a beach, pulling out all the folding chairs they could find, and even a small kids pool. The water was freezing, but Annabeth liked the way it looked as the sun started to go down, the water colored by the siding of the pool. About an hour before Rachel had told people to come, she knocked on Annabeth's door and showed her the outfit she had put together.

“I hope Percy likes it.” She said, and Annabeth had to admit that her friend looked good. She smiled at her and laughed as Rachel happily skipped away. It had been a while since Rachel had been this happy, and Annabeth decided right then and there that if Percy hurt her, she would kick his ass.

On another part of campus, Percy and Grover were getting ready as well.

“Dude, you look ridiculous.” Grover said to his friend. Grover was wearing a bathing suit with sunglasses resting on his head, a towel hanging from his shoulders. But Percy smiled at himself in the mirror before turning to his friend.

“I look awesome and you know it.” He said, and soon they were headed for Rachel's. Percy was excited to see her, Rachel had sent Percy a picture of the bathing suit she would be wearing that night and Percy was thrilled to see how small it was. He still felt bad about falling asleep on another girl's floor the weekend before, but Rachel wasn't one to make a big deal out of nothing, and laughed at him whenever he tried to apologize. They walked to the house and looked around, Grover looking for other people he knew, Percy looking for Rachel. His eyes grazed over the room, as he looked for his girlfriend, but her bright red hair was nowhere to be found.

He looked around for a few moments longer when something else caught his eye. Standing at the top of the stairs was a girl. A girl with blonde hair that curled and swept around her shoulders. She was standing at an angle, and Percy couldn't see her face clearly, but there was something familiar about her. He found himself looking at the rest of her, at the gray bathing suit she wore, and the blue wrap that encircled her waist. He pulled his eyes back up to her face and found her watching him. The eyes told him everything he needed to know. It was the girl from the party last weekend. The one whose floor he had fallen asleep on. _This was Annabeth_.

She glared at Percy for a moment, before turning to someone else and talking to them for a moment, eventually making her way downstairs and straight for him.

“You're Percy.” She said, “You fell asleep on my floor.”

“And you're Annabeth,” He said, crossing his arms, “I fell asleep on your floor.” Her eyebrows creased together for a moment and she looked at him as though she was studying him.

“This party has a theme you know.” She said, “The beach.” Percy gestured to his outfit.

“I'm a piece of seaweed.” He said, “Green shirt, green pants.” He leaned closer to her, “Green eyes.” She rolled her own gray ones at him and took a step back.

“All your eyes mean is that you must have seaweed for brains.” She said and turned away from him, walking off into the crowd. Percy wasn't quite so what to make of her, but before he could think about it anymore, Rachel had found him, and he slipped an arm around her waist, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

“What are you supposed to be?” Rachel asked him, and he told her what he had told Annabeth. “Cheesy but in a way that I love, nice job.” She said, and he mentally patted himself on the back. It didn't matter what Annabeth thought, he had the approval of Rachel, and that was enough for him.

Annabeth left Percy alone and went to find Thalia, situating herself beside her on the counter and crossing her legs, looking at all the people in the kitchen.

“We did good this time.” Thalia said, “I would say this party is a success.” Annabeth nodded but still looked around.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Thalia asked, but Annabeth looked at her like she had no idea what she was talking about.

“What do I keep doing?”

“You keep looking around like-” She looked at Annabeth with questioning eyes, “Are you waiting for someone?”

“No!” Annabeth said, but Thalia had always been able to see through her and she broke down and told her everything she could remember about her run in with Luke.

“Wait...” Thalia said, “Luke _Castellan_?” She turned to Annabeth who nodded, only slightly confused at her friends reaction, “I've known him _forever_.” Thalia said, and she laughed as Annabeth looked at her in shock. “He and I go way back, I can give him your number if you want.” She smiled at Annabeth who was nodding silently.

“Thalia, that would be amazing!” She threw her arms around her friend for a moment, and then pulled back, smiling at her, “You're the best.” Thalia pulled out her phone,

“I'll text him and casually ask if he's coming to the party.” She said, and sent out a quick message, “If he's here I can talk you up to him in person. Works much better than texting.” She told Annabeth matter-o-factly. Pretty soon both girls were watching Thalia's phone for any sign that Luke was coming to the party. But when the message did finally come in, it was a picture. A picture of two girls that they knew well, staring at a phone. Annabeth felt herself blush as she looked up, finding Luke walking over to her.

“Thalia.” He said, and Thalia hopped down from her place on the counter, giving her friend a quick hug. He turned to Annabeth who gave him her best flirtatious smile and he took a step closer to her.

“And Annabeth Chase.” He said her name with a smile, “It's nice to see you again.”

“You as well.” Annabeth said and she too jumped from the counter. She wasn't really sure what to say so she looked to wht he was wearing. Swimshorts, and a teeshirt that made it clear that he was a lifeguard.

“Are you really a life guard?” She asked, and Luke nodded.

“I haven't been for a little while, but I did it a few summers ago to pay for a car.” They talked for a little while longer until Rachel and Percy made their way over. Annabeth crossed her arms and stared at him for a few moments, his easy going nature irritating her for reasons she didn't understand and his eyes- she shook her head and turned to Luke. He was much more like Annabeth. He seemed to be more put together than the laughing mess that was currently holding onto Rachel and telling a story to Thalia. She had to admit there was something endearing about him, but she turned away, trying not to dwell on it.

She talked to Luke for a while longer, and while he was interesting, she could still see Percy's face in her mind. She cursed him for not letting her have a moment alone and eventually was able to put her attention on other things, including the person trying to climb up the side of the building. She got closer and recognized him.

“Grover?” She called, “What are you doing up there?” But he was either too drunk, or too focused on climbing to hear her, and he kept going.

“Do you want me to try to bring him down?” Luke said, and Annabeth looked to the windows he was nearing.

“Honestly, it might be easier to pull him in through the window.” She looked to Luke, “Just make sure he doesn't fall, I'm going to find Thalia and we'll go upstairs.” Luke nodded and turned back to Grover who had taken a seat on the dormer of the first floor. Annabeth searched the kitchen for a few moments and found Thalia, sitting with some other girls in the house.

“What's up?” Thalia asked, and Annabeth filled her in on Grover, and that they needed to get to her room and open the window. Thalia laughed as she stood up and the girls headed upstairs for Thalia's room, opening the window and looking to the right where Grover sat.

“Luke!” Annabeth called, “Make sure he doesn't fall, we're gonna bring him in.” Luke nodded and climbed part way up the side of the house, waiting for Annabeth.

“Okay Grover.” Annabeth said, “Lets get you inside.” She pulled on his sleeve and he turned to her.

“Annabeth!” He said, a little too happily, “Where did you come from?” She sighed and pulled him towards the window.

“Thalia help me.” She said, and together they managed to get him inside. A minute later Luke pulled himself through the window and looked down.

“That was way too easy.”

“Grover, where do you live?” Annabeth asked, and then turned to Luke and Thalia, “We have to get him back to his dorm.”

“I told Percy I could do it.” Grover muttered, “He said it was too hard, but I did it.”

“Percy?” Annabeth said, and she turned to Thalia who nodded, and went for the door, immediately looking for Rachel and Percy.

“He's my roommate.” Grover eventually managed to say, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Of course he is.” She turned to Luke, “Sorry about this.” But he smiled.

“It's not often I get an adventure like this.” He said, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments until Thalia came back into the room, followed by Rachel and Percy.

“Hey buddy!” Percy said and knelt beside his friend, “Let's get you home okay?” He smiled at Grover and with Annabeth's help, pulled him to his feet.

“Percy did you see?” Grover said, “I climbed the side of the house.”

“I did see.” Percy said, “Amazing.”

“Did you tell him to climb the side of the house?” Annabeth asked as she and Percy dragged Grover down the stairs, “He could have fallen!”

“Relax, I didn't tell him to, I said I bet he couldn't.” Percy said, “I'm not a complete idiot.”

“Until you give me reason to think otherwise-” Annabeth started but Grover chose that moment to pitch forward, taking Percy and Annabeth with him, falling down the last few stairs.

“Come on.” Annabeth said, her patience leaving quickly, “Let's go.” She glared at Percy until they reached the front door of the house.

“You gonna make it okay?” She said, trying not to sound like she cared, “He seems pretty rough.

“I'll let you know when we get back to our room.” Percy said.

“How?” Annabeth asked, and stood in the doorway, “By pigeon?”

“Rachel.” He said over his shoulder, and held up his phone for her to see. She watched them go, and closed the door, turning to find Luke standing behind her.

“This has been an interesting evening.” He said, and Annabeth gave a short laugh.

“To say the least.” She said, but Luke smiled at her, and opened his mouth like he was going to say something. For a moment, neither moved, Luke trying to find words while Annabeth desperately wished he would.

“Let me give you my phone number.” He said eventually and Annabeth felt her stomach flip, “You know, in case you need me to remove someone from the roof.” She laughed as he took her phone from her hand and texted himself.

“I'm gonna go home, but it was very nice to see you again.” Luke said. Annabeth nodded and went up to her room, content to end her night on a positive note. But as she was settling down to go to sleep, her phone went off. She grabbed it, hoping it was Luke, but found that she had been sent a picture instead.

“You have got to be kidding me.” She whispered to herself and couldn't help but laugh at the picture. Annabeth could clearly make out what most of the picture was. Grover, still wearing a bathing suit, sleeping on his bed, and below him, smiling and giving the camera he was holding a thumbs up, Percy. “You win this round Jackson.” She rolled over and went to sleep, not even bothering to respond, a smile still playing at her mouth as she thought about the ridiculous boy with the sea green eyes.

 


	4. Texts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while since the last update! But I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Percy was used to taking care of Grover at this point. Sure, they had only been roommates for a couple weeks, but Grover had made it clear very early on that he would need a roommate that could keep up with him. Luckily, Percy was more than up for the challenge, and always got them both home safe. He was surprised when Rachel had given him Annabeth's phone number so easily, but he was pleased that she had, smiling to himself when he thought of all the ways he could let her know he and Grover had made it home safe. He coulnd't just say “Hello, we have arrived.” and when he got back to the room with Grover, he had the perfect idea.

Letting his friend fall into bed he sat beside him, smiling at he took a picture of himself, sending it to Annabeth to let her know that all was well. He didn't expect a reply, but was still disappointed when none came. _She's just asleep,_ he told himself, _she goes to bed crazy early_ , and soon Percy had fallen asleep as well, barely making it out of his shoes and jeans before falling into bed. He slept well that night, but was slightly upset when he checked his phone in the morning and found that Annabeth had never responded to the picture he had taken of him and Grover to prove to her that they were both okay. He did however have a text from Rachel which he happily replied to and soon was leaving the room, and a sleeping Grover, for the house that his girlfriend lived in.

When Annabeth woke up, she immediately looked to her floor to make sure that there wasn't a person asleep on it. She got up hesitantly, as she wasn't quite ready to clean yet, but when she made it to the bathroom, she was surprised to find that someone had already cleaned up from the night before. Not quite believing it, she went downstairs to find Rachel and Percy cleaning the kitchen.

“And you know,” Percy was saying, “if we get the house cleaned in time, we could even start working on the backyard.” Annabeth couldn't help but laugh as she walked into the kitchen.

“You're awake!” Rachel said and she smiled at her friend, “Percy and I are cleaning because I know you don't want to anymore.”

“I can see that.” Annabeth said, and she turned to Percy, “Glad to see you out and about. I wasn't sure we would be seeing you anytime soon after last night.”

“I rallied.” Percy said, and went back to picking up cups and tossing them into the sink, “Rachel and I have cleaned most of the house, but there's still a mess in the backyard.” He informed her, “Want to help us with it?”

“Sure.” Annabeth said, “Let me get dressed first.” She quickly threw on some half dirty clothes and put her phone in her back pocket and promptly headed outside, assessing the damage caused by the party.

“This is not the worst I've ever seen it.” She said, “And there are no people so that's a plus.” The three of them started cleaning up right away, making progress faster than Annabeth ever had on her own. After about 20 minutes, her phone went off, and she pulled it out, finding that she had a text from Luke. She opened it, _It's nice to see that you have friends helping you today,_ it read. Annabeth immediately looked around, trying to find where he could have seen her from, and her eyes fell on the window of the house next door. The one that she could see from her own room. She smirked as she wrote back, _There are better ways to flatter a girl than spying on her_ , and she shoved the phone back into her pocket, picking up the trash bag she had been holding and looking around at the remaining mess. About a minute later her phone went off again and she pulled it out. _Enlighten me,_ it read, and Annabeth couldn't help but laugh as she typed back, _Some appreciate it if you help as well._ She looked to the house for a moment, and had to resist the urge to wave at the window where she suspected Luke was. She did her best to avoid the house, and put her mind as far off her phone as she could, thinking instead about the homework she had waiting for her, and the week of classes she was actually looking forward to. But even her best efforts failed at some point, and she looked over to the house, surprised to see Luke sitting on the back porch, watching her.

Annabeth crossed her arms and shook her head at him, laughing as he waved at her, sunglasses shielding his eyes as he gave her a smug smile. Rachel was soon at Annabeth's shoulder.

“He's Luke right?” She said, “The one who you were talking to last night?” Annabeth nodded as she turned back to Rachel, “I remember him, he's cute.” Rachel wriggled her eyebrows for a few moments and Annabeth laughed, pushing her arm as she went back to cleaning up the yard. When they finished, Percy and Rachel disappeared to her room, and Annabeth sat on the couch, taking a few moments of solace before having to do her homework. But as she closed her eyes, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She sighed and looked at it, smiling as she saw the text from Luke that waited for her. _How did cleaning end up going?_ He asked her.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and replied, _It was fine, but there was some weirdo staring at us_. She put her phone down and waited, picking it up happily when another text came in. But this one wasn't from Luke. It was a number she didn't recognize, but when she opened the message, she saw the picture that had been sent to the night before was from the same number. Percy. _When is Rachel's birthday?_ It read. _You're her boyfriend_ , Annabeth replied, _You should know that_. But she quickly texted it to him and he thanked her, another text from Luke coming in at the same time. _How unfortunate, I'm sure you looked great picking up trash. Sorry I missed it._

She texted with Luke for a while longer, and eventually Clarisse sat beside her and smiled.

“Someone finally worthy of your texts, Chase?” She asked, and Annabeth nodded, telling her all about Luke. “He ask you out yet?” Clarisse crossed her arms and eyed Annabeth suspiciously, who sighed and shook her head.

“I want him to, but I don't know if he will.” They talked for a while longer, and eventually Annabeth decided that she had to start her homework at some point. But her mind kept wandering to her phone which sat on her desk beside her. When her phone did finally go off again, it wasn't from Luke. She smiled at the message as she looked at the picture that Percy had sent her. _Right where I left him_ was what accompanied a second picture of Grover, who was still asleep from the night before. Annabeth decided she should add him to her contacts. She added the picture of him from the night before, cropping it so that his bright smile took up most of the picture. _Seaweed Brain_ she thought to herself, and soon she was texting Seaweed Brain and not thinking of Luke at all.

He asked her about Rachel at first, trying to get tips from Annabeth on how he should act around her, what kinds of little gifts he could get her, thanking Annabeth for her help. _And what can I do for you since you've helped me so?_ He asked her, and she rolled her eyes at the text, _You can be a good boyfriend to Rachel_. She waited, and smiled as his response came in, _I do that already, how about I talk to that blonde guy, Luke? I have it on pretty good authority that you like him._ Annabeth stared at her phone. Why was she hesitant? She liked Luke, didn't she? She didn't know what to say to Percy, so she tossed her phone onto her bed and ignored it when another text came through a few moments later.

She did her reading, and then the rest of her homework, rubbing her eyes when she finished, finally going back to her phone. She still hadn't responded to Percy and she sighed, trying to think of something clever to say, but coming up short. Instead she put her phone on silent and left it in her room, going downstairs to see what the rest of the house was up to. The living room was empty, and Annabeth sat on the couch, looking out the window to the backyard that she had cleaned that morning with Rachel and Percy.

She couldn't help but be a little envious of the easygoing nature of their relationship. She hated going on first dates, and was tired of having to share old information over and over again. She dozed off for a while, letting herself fall asleep only because she had finished her homework for the day and the house was entirely cleaned. When she woke up, she saw she had a text from _Seaweed Brain_ , and she opened it, letting out a laugh at the picture. It was a selfie that Percy had taken, the third he had sent her now, but instead of Grover in the background sleeping, it was Annabeth. She covered her mouth to keep from laughing as she responded, _Should I be worried that you take pictures of girls when they sleep?_ And went back to her room, still laughing to herself at the picture. By the time she made it up the stairs the response had come back, _I just wanted to prove that we both drool when we sleep_ , it said, and Annabeth had to take a second look at the picture, sure enough, she could see that there was in fact drool on the side of her mouth.

She met Rachel and Thalia for dinner later that night, and the three of them headed for one of the small cafés on campus, the late September air crisp, but still comfortably warm. Upstate New York would start getting cold soon, but not quite yet. They talked about classes, about the other girls in the house, Rachel was particularly interested in what they were going to do when the seniors graduated.

“I mean, we'll be juniors next year, and Annabeth, you're already close to being the vice president of the house, I bet by the time we're seniors you'll be in charge.”

“I'm not sure if I want that kind of responsibility” Annabeth said, “But we'll see.” And she smiled at her friends.

“I'm excited to be part of the process to pick new house members, what's it like?” Rachel had moved in for her sophomore year, but Annabeth lived in the house for the second semester of her freshman year, her and Thalia getting in together was one of the highlights of her college experience so far.

“It's pretty fun.” Thalia admitted, “We loved your application.” She said to Rachel, “It was very funny, and you really fit in with the other girls, I'm glad we picked you.”

“You guys.” Rachel said, and she put her arms around Annabeth and Thalia, “Thanks.”

The girls ate together and walked back to the house, going their separate ways at the door. Annabeth went up to her room and picked up her phone, as she had left it to charge while they were at dinner. She had a few notifications, and a new text from Percy. Annabeth didn't mind helping him out with Rachel, she actually liked that he cared so much, and she happily answered his questions, laying back on her head with her phone above her head, laughing to herself. She couldn't believe that she had been so wrong about this person who she had found on her floor. He was thoughtful, friendly, funny, not to mention attractive, he was- Annabeth stopped herself. What was she doing? She liked Luke, didn't she? Yes. She liked Luke. But her mind wouldn't let her stop thinking of Percy.

Putting her phone down, she changed into pajamas and got into bed, even though it was only nine at night. She didn't care, she was drained for one weekend. Thoughts of Luke and Percy plagued her as she tried to sleep. She looked over at her phone again and sighed, trying to contain the urge to reread the texts she had been sending back and forth with Percy all day. It was harmless wasn't it? Reading them again, and she opened the phone, holding it close to her face. _I don't know how to thank you for your help_ , he had said to her, accompanied by a smiley face. _I'm sure you'll think of something_ she had said back, making her cringe now at the thought of it.

Had it been too flirty? Was she flirting with Rachel's boyfriend without even meaning to? She hadn't meant anything by it, or she didn't think she did. This was all getting too confusing for a Sunday night. One last look at the texts later, she plugged her phone back in to charge and went to sleep, eagerly getting up the next morning for her classes. Her alarm woke her up, but it was the text she had that really got her moving. Sometime after she had fallen asleep, Luke had texted to her, _When do you think the next party at your house will be? I want to make sure it won't conflict with ours_. She smiled to herself and responded, _I didn't know you guys had parties over there._ She had never been to, or even heard of a party at the house that was next to them.

Luke's response came in while she was walking to class, _We're known to have a shindig every now and again_. Annabeth laughed to herself as she typed back, _A shindig? Be still my beating heart_. She put her phone away as she made it to class, but checked it one last time, and found that the text that had come in a moment before was from Percy this time. It was a picture of a girl falling down the stairs with papers and books scattered around her, and the captain _Every Monday_ written above her. _Happy Monday!_ Percy had written, and Annabeth rolled her eyes as she put her phone on silent and back into her pocket. When she got out of class for the day, she was almost disappointed that she didn't have a text from Percy. But she did open the one from Thalia and answered that yes she would love to meet her for lunch, where did she want to meet.

Annabeth thought about telling Thalia about her dilemma, that she wanted so badly to like Luke, but found herself thinking of Percy. But Rachel joined them and she lost her chance. Annabeth spent the next month trying to convince herself to like Luke, and eventually, it started to work. She found herself excited when he talked to her, and when he would come to parties, she spent more time with him than with Rachel and Percy. But the feelings that she kept bottled up weren't gone. She could tell from the way she caught herself watching Percy sometimes, and she could tell from the way she sighed when he smiled at her, they were still there.

 

 


	5. Sickness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a few days! Been super busy lately.

As the year began to get colder, Annabeth found herself in a comfortable routine. She went to class during the week, and would spend her weekends in the house, doing homework, and sometimes cleaning up after a party with Rachel and Percy. She tended to avoid Percy when she could, although they continued to text everyday. Annabeth felt guilty when she spoke to him, as though she was keeping a secret from both Rachel and Luke. But she managed to avoid him on most occasions, spending her time looking out the window to the house where Luke lived, and looking forward to seeing him on the weekends. He was a senior, and because of this they had no classes together, but because of the close proximity of where they lived, she saw him every once in a while, coming or going from the house, sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone.

When Halloween came, Annabeth was sick, spending her weekend that she was supposed to be out partying in bed with Thalia taking care of her.

“You don't have to stay with me.” Annabeth told her, “I'll be fine on my own.” But Thalia insisted, and stayed with her most of Friday night, watching movies and playing Uno on the floor. On Saturday, Annabeth was feeling better, and she ventured out into the living room. Sniffling as she walked down the stairs. Her bare feet padded on the wood and she saw Rachel and Percy sitting on the couch.

“Hey!” Rachel said when she spotted Annabeth, “You feeling better?”

“A little.” Annabeth said, “Thalia was with me last night, but I think I'll be fine on my own tonight.”

“That's good.” Rachel said, and she leaned on Percy's shoulder as Annabeth sat across from them. She couldn't help but feel like Rachel was marking her territory somehow, and she sat with her legs drawn up underneath her, looking anywhere but at Percy's smile. They talked for a while about school, and eventually Annabeth went back up to her room. She had a text from Luke, _I heard you're feeling sick, want some company?_ She smiled at her phone and wrote back, _I don't want to brag, but sick Annabeth is damn good at Uno._ She put her phone down for a minute and pulled on a sweatshirt, suddenly cold from the air in her room. _I'll be over at 6?_ Came the reply, to which she said yes please and fell back asleep, taking a nap before Luke was to arrive.

Percy and Rachel spent most of the afternoon on the couch, talking about their Saturday night plans, and when they were going to spend the weekend with Percy's mother in the city.

“I want to meet her really badly.” Rachel told him, “You talk about her a lot, and I want to make a good impression.”

“She's going to love you.” Percy told her, “Don't worry.” Eventually Rachel said that they needed a snack and she went to the kitchen, leaving Percy alone. He sat for a few minutes before going upstairs and knocking softly on Annabeth's door. He didn't get a response, but he opened it anyway, seeing her asleep, just as peaceful as she had been when he found her on the couch weeks ago. He smiled and took a step inside the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“Annabeth?” He whispered, and she stirred, her eyes opening slowly to look up at him.

“Percy?” Her voice was questioning as she looked up at him. “Where's Rachel?”

“She's downstairs.” Percy said, and he went to sit on the side of her bed, “How're you feeling?”

“Not great.” She said, “What are you and Rachel doing for Halloween tonight?”

“Not entirely sure.” Percy said, “I think Rachel put together some kind of couples costume but I don't remember.” He was silent for a moment, “Do you want me-I mean, do you want Rachel and I to stay with you tonight?” Annabeth looked up at him, the nervousness on his face showing through as she smiled.

“No that's alright.” She said, “You guys go out and have fun. Anyway, Luke is coming by he'll keep me company.”

“Oh.” Percy said, “Right, okay well feel better.” And he was up and out the door before Annabeth could say anything.

He knew it was stupid to be upset that Annabeth was spending time with Luke, and so he went back to Rachel and helped her in the kitchen before joining her in her room. It was roughly the same size as Annabeth's, but with much more stuff. Annabeth seemed to travel light. With a few pictures and essentials in the room. Rachel on the other hand had a lot going on. A bookshelf that had movies on it, and papers crammed into spaces that Percy didn't even know existed. Percy was used to clutter, his and Grover's room was the same way, but there was something about Rachel's mess that made him anxious, and he wasn't quite sure why.

Her mess didn't make any sense he decided. His mess was at least the clothes he wore, and his school books. Rachel's mess was stuff Percy didn't even know existed. It was bottles of perfume crammed onto the side of her desk with pictures all over the place. Percy sat on her bed while she pulled stuff off her desk, setting a plate down on top of a pile of books on her desk.

“So do you want to watch a movie or something before we go out tonight?” She asked from the shelf where she kept her movies.

“Uh, sure what did you have in mind?” Percy asked, leaning back on Rachel's bed and pulling her computer onto his lap, “A little netflix and chill?” He said and she laughed, pulling _Little Miss Sunshine_ off the shelf and sitting beside him.

“I love this movie.” Rachel said, “When I was nine I went as Olive for Halloween.”

“Is that why you want to watch it tonight?” Percy asked, “Because it's Halloween?” Rachel nodded and she opened the DVD case, handing it to Percy to put in the computer.

“Okay, I know you've seen this a few times, but please don't just say all of the lines through the whole movie.” Percy said, letting Rachel pull the computer half onto her lap. She leaned on his shoulder as he put his arm around her, and tried to keep her mouth shut while the movie played. Percy nodded off a few times, but if you asked him later, he could tell you most of the major plot points of the movie.

When it was over, he and Rachel went downstairs to see what everyone else was up to, finding Clarisse sitting on the couch.

“Hey you too.” She said, “How was the movie?”

“Good!” Percy said, “I would like to be Olive for Halloween now.” Rachel laughed as put her arms around his waist, smiling up at him.

“If you're going to be Olive, then I'm going to be the grandpa.”

“Deal.” Clarisse faked vomiting when they kissed, but smiled when they turned to her. A few moments later, there was a knock on the front door of the house. Clarisse went to get it, and Percy saw blonde hair walking towards them.

“Hey guys.” Luke smiled at them, waving slightly as he headed for the stairs, “I brought Annabeth soup.”

“Oh, she's going to love that.” Rachel said, “You know which one is her room?”

“Yup.” Luke headed up the stairs and Percy watched him go, turning back to Rachel when Luke was out of sight.

“So what do you want to do until it's time to go out?” Rachel asked, “We could watch another movie.”

“Nah.” Percy said, “Let's just go sleep for a while so when we do go out we won't be tired.”

“Sounds good.” Rachel said and together they went to her room, sleeping until later that night.

“This soup is amazing.” Annabeth was sitting in bed with Luke beside her, helping her with the soup he had brought her.

“Where did you get this?”

“Oh, I went to a local place.” Luke said, “I would have made it from scratch but I didn't have time.”

“Well I still appreciate it” Annabeth said, “How was your Friday night?”

“Not great.” Luke said, “I was looking for someone, but it turned out she was sick in bed.” Annabeth smiled and took another bite of soup. It was hot, but she liked the taste. She held it close to her chest and sniffled while Luke told her about what had happened at the party he had gone to the night before.

“It's wasn't a lot of people, but they had planned for a lot, so there were extra uh, refreshments for those of us who attended.”

“Refreshments huh?” Annabeth was laughing now, trying not to cough and spill her soup, “Sounds like quite the shindig.” Luke and Annabeth talked for a while longer, until Annabeth inevitably fell asleep and Luke went back to his house. Rachel and Percy went to a party, but then were home by midnight. Even Grover managed to wake up before noon the next morning, a surprise to Percy, and they cleaned the room as best they could, deciding that it was a new month, and so it was time to do better.

The month of November would prove difficult for both however, they had reached the midpoint of the semester, and papers and exams became everyone's daily routine. Annabeth spent hours in her room studying, while Percy spent hours downstairs on her couch with Rachel trying to remember everything about marine biology.

Thanksgiving was a welcome relief to most, but Annabeth was skeptical. She and her father had never really gotten along as well as she wanted, and her step mother and half brothers were just further proof that she was the odd one out. But she was relieved to go home, as it had been a long couple months at school.

“I'm so excited to go home.” Rachel was telling Annabeth, “Percy is going to take me to his house, and I'm going to meet his mom!”

“Sounds like a good time.” Annabeth said, and she smiled while Rachel threw clothing on her bed. The girls were in Rachel's room for the first time in what seemed like forever. November had taken everything from them, and it had been too long since they had had some time just for themselves.

“He met your parents over the summer right?” Annabeth asked, “At least you got that out of the way.” Rachel smiled at her friend. She had been known to keep things from her father, and to even date people she knew he wouldn't approve of just to get his attention. But Percy was different, and Annabeth was relieved that Rachel had skipped over the dramatic portion of the relationship, going straight to comfortable.

For the most part, Annabeth had stopped thinking about Percy. She and Luke continued to hang out, him still not asking her out, and Annabeth not quite ready to bite the bullet and ask him. So instead she stayed safe as his friend, hanging out with him on the weekends, and talking to him almost every weekday. Luke was about as excited to go home as Annabeth, but she knew that it would be good for him. Luke's mom seemed like a good person from what he told her, and while she wasn't perfect, it was clear that Luke needed to go home and see her.

As Rachel packed her bag, Annabeth's thoughts wandered a bit, finding their way to the packing she still had to do. She didn't have any plans with her friends from before college, and she really didn't care what she looked like. Rachel was packing to impress. She _had_ to make a good impression on Percy's mother.

“I don't think your outfit is going to matter Rache.” Annabeth said, “Percy likes you, and I'm sure his mom will too.”

“Yeah but I have to make sure.” Rachel said, throwing another skirt onto her bed, “She has to like me. Percy values his mom's opinion higher than just about anyone else's.” She said, “If she doesn't like me I'm screwed.”

“Just be you.” Annabeth said, and she smiled at her friend, “You'll be fine.”

“Thank you for that insight oh wise one.” Rachel said, and Annabeth threw a shirt at her.

“You don't like this one?” Rachel asked, holding it up to her chest, and Annabeth shook her head.

“It's not really 'please like me Mrs. Jackson' material.” Rachel shrugged and put the shirt back in her closet.

It was a while later before Rachel was all packed, but eventually, she was ready to go. Annabeth went back to her room and started on her own packing, throwing whatever she could find clean into a bag and sighing as she dropped it on the floor. She was driving back with Thalia in the morning, and she was already tired of being on break. Annabeth didn't like breaks mid semester. She wanted to get all of her work done, and then go home. She especially hated Thanksgiving. Not long enough to go home to California, too long stay at school. So she and her father stayed in Boston together, spending the week seeing the same things they had been since she was a child.

Thalia dropped her off at the house her father had rented for the week and for a few moments, she just stood on the sidewalk, not entirely sure what to do with herself. Her phone had died somewhere between Springfield and Boston, leaving her with no reason to stay outside. She went in, and found a note from her father, saying that he had gone out grocery shopping, and that he would be back soon. Annabeth looked around, and found the room that was supposed to her hers, laying on the bed and plugging her phone in, and seeing that she had a couple texts to open. She sighed as she opened them, one from Luke asking her how the drive with Thalia was, one from Rachel, gushing over how nice Percy's mom was, and finally, one from Percy. _Have you seen your dad yet?_ It read, _Good luck!_ Annabeth smiled in spite of herself, setting the phone down and sitting back on her bed. Maybe Thanksgiving break wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

 


	6. Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I'm back in school, chapters will be more like once a week, but I'll still find time to write I promise!

Percy was glad his mom liked Rachel. He would have been disappointed if she hadn't, and he liked to see Rachel talking with her.

“Don't worry Sally,” Rachel had said when they were leaving the house, “His dorm at school will be pristine when you come to visit.” Sally had smiled and given her son a kiss on the cheek, hugging him tightly before letting him and Rachel go.

“So are you really going to clean my dorm for me?” Percy asked in the car on the way back to school, “Because that would be fantastic.”

“I might.” Rachel said, and she took his hand from it's place on the armrest between them and kissed his knuckles softly, “What's in it for me?”

“I'm sure I'll think of something.” Percy said, and he smiled at her before turning his eyes back to the road. By the time they made it back it was mid afternoon.

“If you can drop me off at the house first, you can just come back in a little while.” Rachel said, “But I want to see everyone first. I'll text you in a little while.” She kissed him quickly and grabbed her stuff from the car, making her way to the house.

Once inside, she looked around, and was surprised to see that the kitchen was empty. Normally Clarisse or Thalia was there, but even Annabeth was missing. Rachel looked around for a few moments before going to her room. _I don't know where anyone is_. She quickly texted Percy, _Come over whenever you want._ She started unpacking, and pretty soon there was a knock on the door. But when she answered it, it was Luke who smiled at her.

“Annabeth here?” He asked, “She said she would be back by now.”

“I'm not actually sure.” Rachel said, “I just got back myself, and I haven't seen anyone from the house.”

“Oh.” Luke said, and then after a moment, “Can I just go see if she's here?”

“Sure.” Rachel said, and she let him by.

The knock on her door wasn't that much of a surprise, but Annabeth wasn't as in the mood for company as she thought she'd be. Her trip to Boston had done nothing for her, and while she had liked talking to Percy most of the week, it had just made things more confusing. She _could not_ be crushing on Rachel's boyfriend. So when Luke texted her that he wanted to see her, she was more than happy to say sure. At the time. When he actually knocked on her door, that was a different story.

“How was your vacation?” He asked her, “Did you and your dad end up doing anything fun?”

“Not really.” Annabeth said as she sat next to him, “I shouldn't complain though.” She continued, “At least he came out to see me. Rachel didn't even see her dad.”

“Where did she spend her vacation?” Luke asked.

“Percy's.”

“I'm glad they're doing well.” Luke continued, looking to Annabeth and smiling, “They seem to get along well.”

“I guess.” Annabeth said, and she leaned back so that her back was on the wall, closing her eyes for a moment, “I'm sorry.” She said eventually, “I'm just tired, I'll be in a better mood tomorrow.”

“Does that mean I get to see you tomorrow too?” Luke said, “Because I'm fine with that.” Annabeth couldn't help but let a smile find it's way to her face for a moment as she turned to him.

“I guess it means you do.” They talked for a while longer, until Annabeth decided that being asleep by 9:00 was a good idea, and she walked him down to the front of the house.

“I'll text you tomorrow.” Luke said, and for a moment, Annabeth thought he was going to kiss her, but he only backed out the door and towards his own house.

“Annabeth!” She heard her name coming from the kitchen as she closed the door, and turned to find Percy walking towards her, “How was your break?” She didn't even have a chance to respond before his arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, her face pressed into his chest as he arms tentatively wrapped around his waist. “Thank you so much for all your help.” He said quietly, referring to the frantic texts he had sent her, asking ideas for taking Rachel on nice dates while he was at home.

“No problem.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt, but she breathed deeply and wondered to herself how he always smelled like salt air. He pulled back after a few moments and looked down at her, before his attention was pulled back to Rachel who had slowly made her way towards them.

“Finally one of my housemates!” Rachel said as she pulled Annabeth into a hug. “How was your break?”

“Oh, it went about as well as I expected.” Annabeth said, “How was meeting Percy's mom?” Annabeth asked her.

“I think she liked me okay.” Rachel said, and she turned to Percy, “Right?”

“Oh yeah.” Percy said, “She loved you don't worry.”

“Good.” Rachel said, “It would have put a damper on the whole week if she hated me.”

“Luckily, I know how to pick em.” Percy said, and together they wandered back towards Rachel's room, leaving Annabeth alone in the front hall. She sighed and leaned back on the door, thinking about Luke. _Why do I keep hesitating?_ She asked herself, and finally, she went back to her room, sending a text to Percy, telling him she had a favor to ask. _You owe me anyway_ , she told him, and soon enough he had responded, _This is a weird favor_ , she told him, _But can you talk me up to Luke? He won't ask me out_. Percy agreed, and Annabeth felt better. If Luke asked her out she would say yes. She had put this in motion now. She was going to go out with Luke, and she was going to forget that any part of her had ever longed for Percy Jackson.

However, the next few days came up short in the _Luke asking Annabeth on a date_ department, and she found herself just wishing he would get it over with so she could say yes and prove to herself that she liked him. So instead, Annabeth threw herself into the work that was piling up as the end of the semester began to close in on her. With only one week left until finals, Annabeth was spending most of her time going back and forth between her dorm room, and the library where she and Thalia often spent most of the night. It was comforting to study amidst so many others who were in the same position.

One night Rachel and Percy decided to join them, all four of them sitting together in the corner of a large room, mostly in silence while everyone studied and worked on final papers. After what seemed like hours, Percy slid over next to Annabeth and started poking her in the shoulder.

“And to what do I owe this pleasure?” Annabeth said, turning towards him slowly. Percy smiled and pulled out his phone.

“I've been talking to my friend Luke, and he said there's this girl he's thinking of asking out. But he's not sure if she'll say yes. What do you think?” He said, waggling his eyebrows at her, “Do you think she'll say yes?”

“It would be a safe bet.” Annabeth said, and she went back to her work, unable to contain her smile as Percy texted into his phone and slid back to where Rachel was. Annabeth was apprehensive but excited as she went into her next day of classes. She was ready for Luke to finally ask her out, and waited patiently for him to text her. Finally, the Wednesday before Finals, she got the call.

“Hey Annabeth.” He said when she picked up, “I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow night. If you have a few hours free.”

“I'm sure I will.” Annabeth said, leaning back on her bed and closing her eyes, “Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner.” He said, “I have a car on campus, so we wouldn't have to make a date out of the dining hall.”

“Damn, I was looking forward to a gourmet grilled cheese.” She said, “I heard Doug at the café makes the best.”

“Some other time I will take you out for grilled cheese at the café.” Luke said, “But for a _first_ date, I want to take you somewhere nice.”

“I'm very okay with that.” Annabeth said, and she sat up on her bed, playing with a strand of her hair.

“I can pick you up around seven.” Luke said, “Don't want to keep you out too late.”

“No, it's probably a good idea if we get back in time to study for a while.” Annabeth said, “But seven sounds good. I'll be ready.”

“I can't wait.” Luke said, “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” Annabeth said, and quickly hung up, pulling a pillow over her face and squealing into it before getting up and going downstairs to find Rachel alone in the living room.

“Luke just asked me out!” She said triumphantly, “We're going out to dinner tomorrow.”

“Finally!” Rachel said as Annabeth sat beside her, “Percy said he would work on it, and I guess he did a good job.”

“Remind me to send him a thank you card.” Annabeth said and she turned to her friend, picking her feet up onto the couch, “He said _nice_ but I don't know what that means, so I'm not sure what I should wear.” Annabeth said, “Should I go with something formal, something more casual... What do you think?”

“I think you'll look killer no matter what.” Rachel said, “But I would go with something other than pants for sure, but maybe not a dress.”

“So a skirt.” Annabeth laughed as Rachel nodded, looking shocked, as though Annabeth had come up with the brilliant idea all on her own. “What would I do without you.” She said to Rachel and leaned on her shoulder, “I'm kind of bummed it's so close to break, but hopefully we'll go out again either this weekend or during finals week. I want to be officially dating before we go home.”

“Well good luck with that.” Rachel said, “Percy and I had basically been dating for a few weeks before we made it official.” She shook her head, “I finally just asked him if we were dating, and he seemed surprised that I thought otherwise, so make sure you and Luke are on the same page before you leave.”

“I will.” Annabeth said, “Now, it's only 9:30, shall we go study?”

“I believe we shall.” Rachel got up and stretched her arms over her head, “Let me grab by bag and by boyfriend, and I'll be all set.”

“Meet back here in five.” Annabeth said, and she went to her room, retrieving her bag and warmer clothes, it wasn't long before she and Rachel were in the library looking for Percy.

“He's over there.” Rachel said as she spotted his waving hands, “Let's go.”

“So?” Percy said as they sat down, “Do you have any news Annabeth?” He was smiling at her in a way that made Annabeth almost sad that it was Luke she was going out with, but she smiled back, and said, “I guess Luke told you he finally asked me out. We're going out for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Excellent.” Percy said, and he wrapped an arm around Rachel as she sat beside him, pulling out her laptop and a notebook. “What are you working on?” He asked her, “This doesn't look like your normal homework.”

“Well it's for my final paper, so there's more research involved.” Rachel said, “It's not fun.” She sighed and began to type, occasionally looking at the notebook she had pulled out, and going back and forth to it, a scowl on her face. Annabeth went about her work as much as she could, still preoccupied with thinking about her date. She was excited to sat the least, as it had been a while since her last real date, and while she knew her homework was important, she couldn't help but spend a few minutes trying to figure out where Luke was taking her.

When they all went home, Annabeth was asleep within minutes of making it back to her dorm, not even bothering to unpack her bag as she fell into bed. She got up the next day and went to her classes, getting back and immediately beginning work on homework again, until Rachel knocked on her door around six.

“If you want my help picking out an outfit get in the shower now, I'll pick something for you when you're in there.”

“You're the best.” Annabeth said, and she went to shower, leaving Rachel in her room with full access to her closet. When she came back, there was not one, but three outfits spread out on her bed.

“Okay, this one is the most formal.” Rachel said, “It's nice, and I think it'll look good.” She moved to the next one, “But this one is more you.” She said, “And then this one is just casual. My votes are for either one or two, but I thought I would throw in a third for good measure.” She stepped back, and Annabeth picked up the second outfit.

“It's formal and it's me.” She said, “You knew I was going to go with this one.” Rachel shrugged her shoulders, heading for the door.

“Come down when you're all ready, we want to see you.” Annabeth changed quickly, and dried her hair, the curls settling like they always did as she pulled part of it up out of her face. She picked out cute but comfortable shoes and pulled her coat off the hanger, heading for the stairs. In the living room, Rachel sat with Thalia and Percy.

“I was so right.” Rachel said as she looked at Annabeth, “You look awesome.” Thalia was nodding in agreement. Percy on the other hand was looking at her with a strange expression.

“You look awesome.” He said eventually, mirroring his girlfriend's remarks and smiling at Annabeth, “Luke is one lucky guy.” Annabeth caught his eye and smiled softly as he turned away, back to Rachel who was still looking at Annabeth in the outfit she had put together.

“So he said seven right?” Rachel said, looking at the clock on the stove, “it's 6:58 right now, so you should get your coat on.”

“Okay mom.” Annabeth said, pulling her coat on. She looked out the window, and saw a car pulling up, “He's here!” She said, and waited for the knock on the door. When she opened it, Luke was smiling, waiting for her.

“Hi.” He said, “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth said, and she gave one last smile to her friends before following Luke to his car.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope all of the day to day lives of the characters isn't too boring, as promised from the tags, there will be more drama to follow winter break, and I hope you enjoy!


	7. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first it was my car, then my laptop stopped working. What a couple weeks this has been. Anyway, back at school and busier than ever, but I'll keep the chapters coming as much as I can. Enjoy!

They mostly sat in silence, Luke driving while Annabeth nervously looked out the window, messing with the sleeves on her coat. When Luke finally stopped the car in the parking lot of a nice restaurant on the other side of town, Annabeth got out and put her arms around her torso to stay warm.

“This place is great.” Luke said, “You're going to love it.” Annabeth smiled, and followed him inside, looking around at the quaint little place he had brought her. She felt at home. Not to over dressed, and not an outsider at all.

When they sat down, Luke handed her a menu, and a waitress named Chrissy brought them water to start.

“Will there be anything else?” She asked, and they each ordered something to drink, before deciding what they wanted to eat.

“What do you recommend?” Annabeth asked, “I'm in the mood for pasta.”

“Then I would go with the alfredo.” Luke said, “It's the best.”

“Really?” She said, “The best?”

“Nearly.” He said, “But it's the best pasta dish they have.”

“Then it's what I'll have.” She smiled at him and closed her menu, waiting for Chrissy to come back. They talked while they waited for their food, discussing classes, and how finals were going. Luke was excited to start his final semester of college, and Annabeth was anxious about going home to California for such a long break.

“It'll go by quicker than you think.” Luke told her, “Vacations always do.”

“It didn't last year.” Annabeth said, thinking about the weeks she had spent at her house the year before, waking up early and getting out of the house as early as possible as much as she could. “Winter break last year was torture.” She told Luke. They talked for a while longer about how Annabeth should spend her vacation, Luke trying to cheer her up as much as he could until Chrissy came back with their dinner.

“How is it?” Luke asked as soon as Annabeth took a bite, “The best?”

“Oh yeah.” She said, “It's the best.” Their conversation became more relaxed as the evening went on, Annabeth telling more stories about her time in California, with Luke telling her about what their school was like before Annabeth got there.

“And your house has always been full of girls.” Luke said, “Since before I was there.”

“I know the history of the house.” Annabeth said, “I do live there.”

“And there's no guys living there. You're one of the only single sex houses on campus.”

“Well, barely.” Annabeth said, “Percy spends so much time there he practically lives with us.”

“Oh yeah, Rachel's boyfriend.” Luke said, and he smiled, “That guy is great.” _He sure is_ , Annabeth thought, but she kept this to herself.

“That was how I met him actually.” Annabeth said eventually, laughing as she thought back to the beginning of the year. “He had fallen asleep on my floor, and I woke up to find him there.” Luke looked surprised by this.

“How did he get in your room?”

“I must have left the door unlocked, and he wandered in.” She shook her head, still laughing, “When I woke him up he looked so confused, but he got up and left without a fuss, and apologized for it about a hundred times after the fact. I didn't mind though.”

“Why not?” Luke asked, an accusatory tone taking over his voice.

“Because he's Rachel's boyfriend.” Annabeth said, “He's a nice person.”

“But why didn't he fall aslepe in Rachel's room?” Luke was looking at her now with a strange expression, “Why your room?”

“I don't know, why don't you ask him?” Annabeth said, “It was at the beginning of the year, I don't remember the details.”

“You seem to.” Luke said quietly, but Annabeth decided to let it go. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Annabeth asked Luke how his food was.

“It's good.” He told her. “I got what I always get.” Annabeth tried smiling at him a few times, and eventually was able to crack the exterior that he had put on after their talk about Percy. She felt bad, after all she had agreed to go out with Luke. It wasn't fair to him that she talked about Percy so much.

When both had finished their meals, Luke paid, and they decided to go for a short walk along the road the restaurant was on, as it was lined with other small shops, before going back to school. Sice by side they made their way down the street, Annabeth keeping her hands in her pockets to keep them warm, Luke letting his swing by his sides. As much as she wanted to reach out to him, she was too cold to make the effort. She hadn't really dressed for a walk at night, and while she liked looking into all the windows, she was regretting the choice.

“You're way too cold, come on.” Luke said eventually, and pulled her into a small bakery. It was late, but the shop was still open, and Annabeth could smell from the kitchen that someone was already there for the night shift, baking all night before going home to sleep for the day.

“Want a cupcake?” He asked her, and she nodded, looking at the display.

“Which one do you like?” She asked him, “We can share.”

“We can share,” Luke said, “but I want you to pick it out.” Annabeth smiled and rolled her eyes dramatically, taking a second look at the cupcakes in question.

“I like this one.” She said, looking at a vanilla cupcake with blue frosting. It was frosted to look like water, and it made her smile. _It's like Percy_ part of her was saying, but she pushed the notion away as Luke bought it for them.

“Can we eat it in here?” Annabeth asked, looking at her still cold hands, “I don't think I'm ready for the cold just yet.”

“That's okay with me.” He said, and they sat together at one of the small tables, taking small bites from the cupcake.

“I haven't had a cupcake this good in a long time.” Annabeth said, “We have to come back here some other time and get something else.” She was looking at the other pastries in the display case, and Luke smiled to himself, excited that she wanted to do something with him again.

“I think I can make that happen.” He said, and he reached for her hand, surprised when she pulled hers back.

“It's too cold to hold hands, so we can link arms, but I am keeping my fingers safe.” She said and he held out his arm for her, smiling as she took it. They walked slowly back towards the restaurant their slight argument from before forgotten as they talked about what they saw in the windows, and all the places they wanted to come back too.

“Some of this might have to wait until after we get back from break.” Luke said, “I don't think we'll be able to do all of that now.”

“That's okay.” Annabeth said, “With my luck it'll be even colder then.”

“You need a better coat.” Luke said, “How did you get through last winter?”

“I never went outside.” She said. “Ever.”

“I know you're joking, but seriously, how did you make it?”

“I'm serious.” She said, “I went to classes and everything, but any chance I had I was inside. I turned down like, eight chances to build snow men because I didn't want to deal with cold weather.”

“You picked the wrong place to go to school then.” Luke said shaking his head, “It's cold here most of the time.”

“Yeah I know.” Annabeth deadpanned, “It's great.”

When they made it back to the car, the drive back to the school didn't seem long enough. Luke held her hand, both resting on her thigh as they talked about what they wanted to do next time.

“We have to go back to that bakery.” Annabeth said, “We should go to the dining hall for dinner and eat super healthy, and then go the bakery and just sit and eat cupcakes as long as they let us.”

“I am very on board with that plan.” Luke said, “Just give me a time and place.”

“Well, I have finals next week, but my last one is actually Thursday morning, but I don't fly out until Friday, want to get together on Thursday night?”

“That sounds perfect.” Luke brought their joined hands to his lips and gave the back of her hand a quick kiss as they pulled up to her house.

“Well I had a wonderful time.” Annabeth said, “But now I'm very tired and have a lot of studying to do.” She smiled at him, and unbuckled her seat belt, leaning over to kiss his cheek. But at the last second, Luke turned and caught her lips with his, kissing her quickly.

“Until next time.” He said, and winked at her as she opened the door, getting out, and almost running to the door of the house. Luke drove off, smiling to himself as Annabeth flung herself through the door, looking around for Rachel.

“She's back!” Annabeth heard Thalia's voice coming from somewhere in the house, and within seconds, Clarisse, Thalia, Rachel, and Percy had all emerged, looking at her expectantly.

“So?” Rachel said, “How was it?”

“It was great.” Annabeth said, trying to downplay how excited she was, and barely managing to pull it off, “We went to dinner, and then walked to a small bakery.” She took off her coat, “And then he drove me back,” she took off her shoes, “and then he kissed me!” Rachel screamed. Clarisse said “YES!”. Thalia smiled. And Percy gave her a thumbs up. She caught his eye for a moment, and she almost forgot all of the things she and Luke had decided to do together. All she could think about was how she wished she could be doing those things with Percy instead.

After a few rounds of questions from the girls, Annabeth made her way up to her room and studied for a while, before finally getting into be. She thought about Luke, and she thought about Percy. Ultimately deciding that in order to pay more attention to Luke she had to ignore Percy. Even as she thought it, she knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant thing to do, but it was necessary if she was going to date Luke. It wasn't fair to him if his girlfriend was constantly thinking about someone else.

The next few days, Annabeth put her plan into action, putting in a minimal effort when it came to talking to or interacting with Percy. She still smiled and said hello, but she no longer responded to all of his cute, albeit sometimes annoying text messages, she wouldn't try to meet his eyes whenever possible, and she stopped spending so much time with him and Rachel together. It was easier after that. She spent more time with Luke, she texted 'goodnight' to Luke, and by the time their second date came around, Annabeth was thinking about him most of the time.

“I'm very glad we're doing this.” He told her as they stood in front of the display case, “Now, what should we get?”

“I know I want a cannoli.” She said, “And I also want one of those eclairs.” She went on and on, laughing as her list reached ridiculous lengths, ultimately deciding on one cannoli, and a few smaller cookies to take back with her. When they finished, Luke took her back to her house, giving her a kiss goodnight before dropping her off, promising to see her in the morning before she left for vacation.

Annabeth walked into the house and put her cookies on the counter, taking off her coat and shoes before picking one up to eat.

“You're back late.” Annabeth knew his voice before she turned, “Did you have a good time?” Percy was walking towards her, his eyes on the cookies she had brought back, his pajama pants low on his hips, an old sweatshirt serving as a top to the ensemble.

“It was nice.” She said eventually, “I'm going to bed.”

“Can I ask you something first?” He said, and reached out to her as she attempted to slip by him. But his words stopped her before his arms could, and she turned to him, trying not to look into the green eyes that she had been telling herself not to think about.

“Sure.” She took another bite of her cookie and looked at him expectantly.

“Have you been avoiding me?” He asked, “I know something's different. You've been ignoring me since you went out with Luke, and I want to know why. Is he controlling? Does he not want you to have guy friends? Because that's not something he should decide for you.” Annabeth looked at him and couldn't help but see how sweet and caring he was. He wasn't mad at her for being distant, he was concerned for her well being.

“No, it's nothing like that.” She said, “If it was I wouldn't have put up with him.”

“Oh.” Percy said, “That's a relief.” He thought for a moment. “Then what is it?” For one crazy moment, Annabeth thoght about telling him the truth. She thought about all the different ways she could tell him that even though he was the most irritating person she had ever met, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about him no matter how hard she tried. In the end she decided on, “I've been busy.” And turned without another word.

The next day Luke made good on his promise to see her again and came by before going to take an exam. Annabeth brought all her stuff down and was ready to leave when her friends seemed to come out of the woodwork to say good bye. She was getting a ride with someone who was also going to the airport, and had a few mintues to wait while her friends told her to call, and wished her luck with her dad.

“You're going to be fine.” Rachel said as she gave her a hug, “Call me when you land.”

“Will do.” Annabeth said, and her eyes fell on Percy, who came forward and almost picked her up with the force of his hug.

“Have a great vacation.” He whispered in her ear, “I know you'll be fine.” He pulled back and smiled at her before letting her open the door and go out to where her ride was now waiting. And even as she pulled away, she looked back at the house, and tried to think of anything else besides Percy Jackson.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of angst I get to write in this fic is keeping me young.


	8. Vacation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it't been a while! I've had a crazy week, but I think this one is gonna be a little easier for me to handle. Enjoy!

Annabeth always managed to forget how much she hated airports. They were always full of people with no patience, and always managed to make her nervous. When Thalia dropped her off she gave her friend a hug and a slight smile as she drove away, leaving Annabeth with a suitcase on the sidewalk. She turned to the airport and sighed, stepping inside and into the chaos.

After getting something to eat and going through security, Annabeth settled in with her computer. She had about an hour until her flight started boarding, so she plugged in and decided to watch a movie. When her plane started boarding she packed up and got on, settling into her seat and waiting for take off. She had a window seat, and looked out at the runway, and at the snow. There would be no snow at her house, that was one thing she was looking forward to. She focused on that for a little while, and how happy she was going to be when they touched down in California and she no longer had to wear a winter coat.

As the boarding process continued, a woman and her young daughter sat beside Annabeth, taking up the other two seats in their row. She listened to their conversation and couldn't help feeling a little sad. She had no memories of her own mother, and while she had asked her father what she was like, Annabeth never managed to get a straight answer out of him. “She was beautiful” he would say, or “She was very smart.” but never anything that told Annabeth who she was. When it was time for take off, Annabeth closed her eyes and waited until they were in the sky, trying to fall asleep while she listened to music. The trip didn't seem to take any time at all once she managed to drift off. She woke up for a few moments a couple times before falling back into sleep.

When she made it off the plane she collected her bag and went for the front doors of the airport, pulling her phone out of her bag to call her father.

“Hey, where are you?” She said when he picked up, “I'm at the air port.”

“Me too.” He said, “I think I can see you.” Annabeth looked around, and could see her father waving at her. He was alone, something she was thankful for, and began walking toward him.

When Percy made it home, he was excited to start his vacation. Rachel was coming to visit in a few weeks, and Grover would be stopping by for a few days as well. He was excited to be home for longer than a week, and while he didn't really have friends back home, he was glad for a break from everything. He liked dating Rachel, but sometimes it was tedious. She could be snippy, and while it was a quality that didn't bother him most of the time, he was starting to get tired of her controlling nature. Briefly, he thought of Annabeth, and what it must be like for Luke. He had seen them together a number of times, and while they were cute together, there was always a strange sense of resentment when he saw them together.

“Oh!” Sally looked surprised when Percy walked through the door. “You're home earlier than I expected.” He smiled at her and she gave him a hug. “I'm making cookies.”

“Blue ones I hope.” Percy said, and she gave him a look, as if to say, _as if they'd be anything else_. Sally wiped her hands on her apron and looked around the kitchen, like she had lost her train on thought when Percy came in.

“How's Paul?” He asked her, sitting down at the table and looking around the kitchen.

“He's good.” Sally said, “Should be home soon. We weren't expecting you this early.”

“I left a little earlier than I was planning.”

“Why's that?” Sally asked. For a moment, Percy almost told her. That Annabeth had left the night before and he didn't want to be at school without seeing her at the house. So instead, he just shrugged, and said he was going to be in his room. He pulled his bags down the hall, dragging them to his bedroom as he opened the door and fell onto his bed. Annabeth wasn't who he was dating. Annabeth wasn't who he was supposed to think about this much. He rubbed his palms over his eyes and looked up at his ceiling.

The first few days of vacation passed quickly for Percy. He talked to Rachel, he talked to Grover, he tried not to think about Annabeth. But that wasn't easy. His mom wanted to know more about his friends at school, and he made the mistake of telling his mom how they had met.

“You fell asleep on this poor girl's floor?” His mother asked, raising her eyebrows, “Why on her floor?”

“I couldn't find Rachel.” Percy said, “And we had plans, and I didn't want to leave the house and then have to come back later, and Annabeth's door was open, so I slept on her floor.”

“And she didn't know you were there.” Sally said this as a statement, not a question.

“Not until she woke up the next morning.” Percy smiled at the memory. _You drool when you sleep_. He had opened his eyes to a beautiful girl staring down at him that morning. A beautiful girl that he hadn't stopped thinking about ever since. He closed his eyes tried to relax, happy to be back in the apartment that he had grown up in.

The first few weeks of winter break passed quickly. Annabeth picked up her job where she had left it at the end of the summer, and she talked to Luke just about every day. Even with the time difference they still made time for each other, something that Annabeth was grateful for. It had been hard for them, being apart for so long at the beginning of a relationship, but Annabeth was optimistic that they would make it work. The only flaw in her plan was when she got home from work one day to find that she had a text from Percy. She hadn't talked to him since she left for California, and she was both excited and scared for what he could want with her. So she left the phone alone for a while, and thought about anything else besides the text waiting for her.

When she couldn't take it any longer, Annabeth finally opened her phone and couldn't help but smile. A picture of a bottle of water greeted her with the simple caption “Jealous?” She rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen, turning on the sink and taking a picture of the running water. She sent it to him, and waited anxiously for a response. _Wow, waste water much?_ His reply said. Annabeth sighed and went back into her room. _What are you up to?_ She sent it before she could regret the decision and went back into her room. It was almost seven, making it close to ten it New York. But instead of a response, her phone started ringing.

“Hello?” She said, picking up and closing the door to her room.

“Hey.” Percy's voice was soft as he spoke to her from across the country. “I haven't been doing much, but I'm tired so I thought I'd call you to talk instead of text.” He paused for a moment, “Is that okay?”

“That's fine.” Annabeth said, “Tell me about your day.” She fell back on her bed and smiled as the stories flowed from him. He told her about grocery shopping with his mom, and how Grover had spent a few days with him, he told her about his step dad, Paul, and how happy he was his mom wasn't alone when he went to school.

“My first step dad was so terrible.” Percy told her, “I know you lost a parent too, and you have a step mom, but Gabe was so mean to her.”

“I'm sorry.” Annabeth told him, laying on her side with the phone pressed to her ear, “I'm glad she's okay now though.”

“Me too.” Percy said. They talked for a while longer, before Percy got another call.

“Rachel.” He said, voice almost disappointed, “I have to take this.” And before Annabeth could argue with him, he hung up, leaving her to stare at her phone and sigh. What she hadn't noticed before was that a text had come through from Luke while she was talking to Percy. _Just wanted to check in_ it said, and she smiled, trying to picture Luke's face instead of Percy's. She stole his idea though, calling Luke instead of texting him.

“Well this is a pleasant surprise.” He said, and Annabeth suddenly remembered why she liked him in the first place. While Percy was all sporadic and even child like sometimes, Luke was steady, Luke was reliable, and Luke was dating her.

Annabeth told him all about her first few weeks of vacation, and how much she was looking forward to getting back to school. They talked until Luke had to go to sleep, even though it was still relatively early for Annabeth. But they promised to talk again in the morning and hung up for the night. Annabeth felt better after she talked to Luke. Her conversations always left her feeling guilty, and she was glad that she had a chance to talk to Luke after.

Percy woke up late the next morning and his first thoughts went to his conversation with Annabeth the night before. He went into the kitchen and found his mother making pancake, blue of course, and smiled at her, sitting down at the table.

“I heard you on the phone last night.” She asked, “How's Rachel?”

“I wasn't talking to Rachel.” Percy said without thinking, “I uh.” But his mother was looking at him with eyebrows raised.

“Who were you talking to?” She said, “I know it wasn't Grover.”

“It was a friend.” Percy said, “Annabeth.”

“Annabeth.” His mother said, “You've never mentioned her before.”

“She lives in the same house that Rachel does.” He told his mother as she pulled a plate out of the cupboard. “She's nice.”

“Why were you on the phone with her?” Sally didn't seem to be letting it go as she pressed her son for details about Annabeth. Once breakfast was over Percy went back to his room and called Rachel, asking her when she was coming to visit.

“How about day after tomorrow I come up, and spend a few days with you.” She said, “Let me talk to my dad.” The plans were finalized, and Percy told his mom that Rachel was coming to visit.

“Well that's nice.” Sally said, “I liked seeing her at thanksgiving.” Percy started cleaning his room that afternoon. He knew Rachel liked it when things were clean, and he wanted to make sure that she didn't end up cleaning it for him when she came to see him.

Rachel remembered which apartment belonged to Percy, and she knocked on the door with confidence.

“Hey!” Percy smiled at her when he opened the door, pulling her into a hug and stepping back into the apartment. “I am so happy to see you.” He said, and kissed her forehead. “Mom! Rachel's here!” He called into the apartment. Sally emerged a few moments later and smiled when she saw Rachel.

“It's so nice to see you again.” She said, and pulled her into a quick hug, “How has your vacation been so far?”

“It's been good.” Rachel said, “I'm going to California next week to spend the last part of vacation with my best friend.”

“Well won't that be nice.” Sally said, “Sounds like a wonderful time.”

“I hope so, Annabeth doesn't get along well with her family, so I bet she needs a friend.”

“Annabeth.” Sally said, and her eyes darted to Percy for a moment, “Unusual name.” To Percy's relief, his mom didn't say anything else about Annabeth, or her unusual name, leaving him and Rachel to set up her bed on the couch, and get ready for dinner.

On the other end of the country, Annabeth was at work, secretly texting Luke while she stood behind the counter. No one was in the shop, and she only had about an hour left to work. But somehow she knew it would be the longest hour of her life. The seconds ticked on, and when she finally was allowed to go home, she called Luke, telling him about her day. Since their first phone call, Annabeth had felt more secure in their relationship than she had since she left for California. She loved his voice, and was happy to talk with him on the phone as much as she could.

“There's only two weeks left of vacation.” He said, “I can't wait to see you again. I've already decided a couple places we're going to when we get back.”

“Oh really?” She said, excited. “Where would that be?”

“It's obviously a surprise.” He said. “But don't make plans the first week we're back.”

“Can do.” Annabeth said, and she continued the short walk home in the late afternoon sun, happy in California for the first time since her conversation with Percy.

When winter break finally did come to a close, Annabeth was excited. She had spent a week with Rachel, and their time on the beach had almost made up for the weeks Annabeth had spent alone. But Rachel was a constant reminder of Percy, who Annabeth had been trying to forget, and this task was just getting harder. She packed up her bags and took them to the door, packing the car with help from her younger half brothers, watching as they packed, and repacked. It was cute, the interest they seemed to take in her, and she appreciated their affection. They each hugged her before she got into the car, and waved at them as her father drove away. Settling back into the passenger seat as he drove, Annabeth watched as California whooshed past her.

Her father dropped her off at the airport, and she went through the routine she was now getting used to. Drop off bags, go through security, wait, and get on the plane. It wasn't the most glamorous set check list, but it kept her busy and made the time go faster. By the time they took off she was already half asleep as she had planned to be, yawning and curling up in her window seat. The flight seemed shorter than usual, and she called Thalia as soon as she landed.

“Yeah okay, someone will be there to pick you up soon.” Thalia said, almost yelling into the phone. “I got a flat tire and I don't have a spare with me. I left it at home to bring all my stuff back. So stupid.”

“How long do you think it'll be?” Annabeth asked.

“Not long, I already called the house and told them someone had to come and get you.”

“Thanks Thal.” Annabeth said, “And good luck.” She hung up and waited with her stuff, looking around for a familiar face. A few minutes later a text came in. She opened it, and her eyes widened. It was from Percy, _Hey, I'm at the airport, are you inside?_ So he had come to pick her up. She sighed and couldn't help but smile, standing up and dragging her bags towards the door, catching sight of him standing on the side walk. She made it outside and called out to him, “Percy!” He turned and ran towards her, pulling her into a hug as soon as he could, Annabeth's arms going around his chest and holding him tight. She could hear the murmurs of people passing by, obviously thinking she and Percy were a couple. But she didn't care. She hugged him for a moment longer, only stepping back when he said, “I'm glad to see you too, but if we don't get out of here fast we don't get free parking.” Annabeth laughed and pulled back, looking up into his face.

“I'm really happy it was you.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and while she thought he would be horrified, he only smiled, picking up one of her bags and putting an arm around her shoulder.

“I'm glad it was me too.”

When she and Percy got back, Annabeth had a text waiting for her. Luke. She opened it and was pulled back into the reality that she knew she was meant for, telling him that yes, she was back, and she would want to have dinner with him that week. She thought about going to dinner with Luke, and tried not to think about the fact that Percy had come to get her from the airport. She tried not to think about how it had felt to hold onto him, and she definitely wasn't thinking about how he had held her. Nope. Not thinking about it at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst continues. But don't worry, it'll all be worth it in the end.


	9. February

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully now that I've fallen back into a routine, I'll be able to post more. I've been working on a couple different projects, and I'll be starting another piece on here pretty soon.

Annabeth had forgotten how fast time could go when she had classes five days a week. She spent her weeknights doing homework, and her weekends with her friends, making it through the last week of January, and into February. She found it was easier to forget about her strange and confusing feelings for Percy when she was actually with Luke. They had been spending more time together, and she found herself thinking about him even when he wasn't around. While Luke and Annabeth continued to go out most weekend nights, Rachel and Percy continued to spend their weekends at the parties that the house hosted.

Percy found himself bored with them however, as Annabeth was never around anymore. He liked spending the weekend with Rachel, but he missed his friend. He even thought about trying to tell her that, but decided against it. He instead threw himself into schoolwork and his current relationship, trying to be the best boyfriend he could be. Rachel appreciated this, as she sometimes felt he didn't pay enough attention to her, but over the first few weeks that they were back from winter break, this idea was thrown out the window, and she embraced his new desire for her.

“You're really stepping up your game.” She told him one day, climbing out of bed and looking for a towel, “I'm going to take a shower, care to join?” Percy smiled at her and got up, kissing her and helping her out of her clothes.

“I would love to.” He said, and together they silently made their way into the bathroom. It hadn't been cleaned since they got back, but neither cared. Rachel turned on the water and stepped inside, pulling Percy along with her. He went without much resistance, and kissed her, pressing her gently against the wall of the shower.

Annabeth had been waiting for Rachel to get out of the shower for almost fifteen minutes. What could she possibly be doing in there? She paced back and forth, needing her advice on an outfit for a date she had with Luke that weekend. She knew that it wasn't that big a deal, but she liked having a second opinion no matter what. She had gone to Thalia, only to be greeted with a shrug, and had even considered Clarisse, but Annabeth knew she would be no help. She settled onto the couch and didn't take her eyes off the bathroom door, tapping her fingers against the coffee table. When it finally did open, she gasped, seeing not only Rachel, but Percy coming out of the bathroom.

“Annabeth!” Rachel said as she stepped out of the bathroom. She was clutching a towel around her chest, her face red. “I didn't know you were home.”

“Clearly.” Annabeth deadpanned. “I just wanted some advice on an outfit, but I can see you are otherwise occupied.” She jumped off the couch and went up to her room, closing the door and running her hands through her hair. Did she really just see them come out of the bathroom together? Yeah. She did. She didn't know why she was so surprised. She knew Percy spent the night at the house, and she knew they were having sex, but why did it bother her so much? Trying not to think about it anymore she picked a book off her shelf, and opened it, hoping to take her mind off just about everything. But before she could get far, there was a knock on her door.

“It's me.” A voice said, and Annabeth sighed. She got up and opened it, finding Rachel smiling sheepishly at her. “Sorry about earlier.” She said. “We didn't know you were home.”

“It's okay.” Annabeth said. “Just surprised, I didn't take you for a shower girl.” Rachel laughed and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Neither did I, but it was very enjoyable.” Annabeth nodded, but didn't speak. “So you were looking for advice about something?” Rachel kept the conversation going, looking around the room. “An outfit for a date?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth went to her cloest and pulled out a dres. “We're going to a really nice restaurant, and I wanted to know if you had any shoes that went well with this dress. I have some flats, but I was kind of hoping for heels.” Rachel took the dress in her hands and sighed.

“Hmm.” She nodded to herself, then smiled at Annabeth. “I think I have just the ones.” She raced from the room, leaving Annabeth holding her dress in a kind of shocked silence. But she quickly heard steps on the stairs, and Rachel was back, holding a pairs of shoes.

“Now try them both on together so I can see.” She said, and sat on Annabeth's bed, waiting for her to change. Annabeth did so as fast as she could, wanting to see what the dress looked like with the shoes. She pulled them on and looked at herself in the mirror, smiling at her reflection.

“Yes.” Rachel said, and nodded. “Yes, that's perfect.” She stood up and began messing with Annabeth's hair, pulling part of it up, letting it go, before finally pulling part of it into a kind of messy top bun.

“Luke is going to go crazy.” Rachel said. “Maybe you'll get some shower time of your own.” She winked at Annabeth who smiled, both nervous and scared about the prospect. It wouldn't have been a first for her and Luke, she had spent the night at his house several times, coming back early enough in the morning that no one knew she had gone, and had once even allowed him to crawl out her window to evade the rest of the house, kissing her as he slid down onto the ground. She smiled at Rachel, and together they started to work on how Annabeth would do her hair.

Percy was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. A habit he had picked up over winter break, and had yet to deter.

“Are you okay?” Grover asked, after leaving Percy alone for almost an hour, and coming back to find him unmoved.

“I think so.” Percy said, but he didn't sound convinced of it himself. “Is it possible to like two girls at once?” He asked absentmindedly.

“Annabeth finally get to you?” Grover asked, laughing as he untied his shoes. “I was wondering.” Percy looked at him, but Grover only smiled. “Relax, I won't tell Rachel anything, but you might want to try being a little more discreet with your staring. I'm surprised Luke hasn't said something to you.”

“She's just so.” Percy wasn't quite sure how to describe her. He knew he annoyed her to no end, and that she was constantly aggravated by his actions, but on the other hand, she had seemed so happy to see him at the airport, and had held onto him for so long. He couldn't deny that there was something there that he felt for her, even if he wasn't quite sure yet what it was.

“I don't know what to do.” Percy said. “I'm with Rachel, and she's with Luke, but...” He trailed off, pressing hid hands inot his eyes, “I don't know what to do.”

“Let me ask you a question.” Grover said, sitting on his own bed and putting his hands behind his head, using them as a pillow as he too looked up to the ceiling. “If you had met Annabeth before Rachel who would you want to be dating?”

“Annabeth.” The name was from his mouth before he could stop it, and the realization was surprising.

“Okay, if you met them at the same time who would you want to be dating?”

“Annabeth.” Her name came out a whisper this time, as if it was sacred to him.

“And finally.” Grover said, looking over at Percy. “If you had met Rachel first, but hadn't been dating her when you met Annabeth, who would you have asked out?” Percy thought for a moment. It was a carefully worded question that deserved a carefully worded answer. But his choice seemed clear to him.

“Annabeth.”

“Then I think you have your answer.” Grover said, “You should be with Annabeth.”

“But how do I make that happen?” Percy asked. “She's with Luke.”

“I never said it was going to happen.” Grover said, and he pulled his computer onto his lap. “I was just saying it should.”

Percy thought about that for a while. Maybe it was supposed to happen, but never would. He had seen it happen in movies all the time. Two characters who cared deeply for each other, but never seemed to get the timing right. He silently hoped he and Annabeth weren't like that. He hoped that someday it would all work out.

When Luke drove up to the house, Rachel was the first one to see his car. She got up and went to the bottom of the stairs before yelling. “Annabeth, chariot awaits!” She heard some shuffling from upstairs and soon her friend was on her way, smiling as she headed for the door, which was promptly knocked on.

“You look amazing.” Luke said as Annabeth opened the door. He leaned forward to kiss her and smiled as she pulled back.

“Let's go.” She said. “I got all dressed up, and I expect to be taken to a nice fancy restaurant.” Luke held out his hand for her to take, and they walked together to his car.

“So are you going to tell me anything about where we're going?” She asked. “Anything at all?” But Luke shook his head, and smiled, not taking his eyes off the road in front of them.

“Not a thing.”

Their evening out passed without incident, and so did many others to come. Annabeth's routine had become comfortable to her, and she was grateful for Luke's dependability. She had seen Rachel call Percy on more than one occasion to remind him they were supposed to be going out, or that he was supposed to come pick her up, hearing him apologize as he finally made it to the house, and Rachel forgive him with a kiss and a giggle as they left. It was something about her relationship with Luke that she knew Rachel envied, and she couldn't help but feel bad for her. There were certain things like that, little flaws in Percy's behavior that made it easier for Annabeth not to throw away her current relationship to pursue her friends boyfriend.

She shook her head at herself even as she thought it, knowing it would be crazy of her to even think about doing something so ridiculous. It was with that state of mind she finished out February. Over a month into the new semester she was finally at peace with her choices. Until one day she somehow found herself alone. With Percy. He had come to find Rachel, but had come across Annabeth instead, sitting on the couch and reading a book, he had sat down beside her, the look of surprise on her face causing him to laugh.

“I guess you weren't expecting to be disturbed.” He said. “I was looking for Rachel, know when she's going to be back?”

“She went to the library to pick up some books and do some printing.” Annabeth said. “I'd say fifteen minutes.”

“Great.” He said, and closed his eyes while leaning back. “I'll wait.” He sat there motionless for a few seconds, but he could feel Annabeth's stare, and he opened one eye, looking at her.

“Yes?” His voice was questioning but playful. She quickly looked back to her book and Percy closed his eye again, pleased that she seemed flustered.

“I'm sure you could wait in Rachel's room and she wouldn't mind.” Annabeth didn't look up from her book as she said it, instead pulling her knees up to her chest and propping the book on them.

“But I don't want to.” Percy half whined. “I hardly see you anymore. How have you been?” He turned his head and looked at her, waiting for a response. When she continued to ignore him, he grabbed the book from her, causing her to lunge for it.

“I was reading that!” She said, and sat back with her arms crossed as he looked at it.

“What's it about?” He asked, flipping through the pages.

“It's just a book.” She said, trying not to look at him, “Can I please have it back?” She held out her hand, but he continued to hold it at bay, smirking at her while she sighed and waited.

“So annoying.” She said, more to herself than him, and reached for the book, only to have him hold it just out of her grasp. “This is not funny Percy!” She said, but found herself close to laughter as he got up from the couch and began to walk away, opening the book as if to read it, intentionally holding it upside down.

“Very interesting...” He said, and continued to move about the kitchen, but what he failed to notice was Annabeth taking a running start and jumping on his back, trying to pull the book from his hands.

“Give it back!” She said, but Percy was ready to give the book back now. He held onto her legs, keeping her in place, while she reached for the book, taking hold of it and trying to get free. “Okay, let me go.” She didn't sound amused.

“Nope, this is what you get.” He said, “You took my book. Now pay the consequences.” Annabeth started hitting him on the head with the book, only to have him reach around and pulled her closer while she tried to hit him.

“Put me down!” But even she was laughing now. Their fighting continued until they heard the door open. Annabeth gasped, and pulled free from Percy's arms as fast as she could.

“Relax.” Thalia started taking off her coat, looking at them with a curious expression on her face. “It's just me.” But her gaze never strayed from them as she went to the fridge to find something to eat. A few minutes later Rachel came back, and she and Percy disappeared into his room, leaving Annabeth and Thalia alone.

“Alright.” Thalia said, “We need to talk.”

“About?” Annabeth said, but she had a feeling she already knew, dreading what was coming next. Thalia crossed her arms and looked at Annabeth. “Percy.”

 


	10. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It's been way too long since I've updated. But now I am back, and writing more than ever. It was a hectic start of a semester, but hopefully I'll be able to add more to this soon!

Annabeth wasn't sure if she should play stupid or not. She thought about it, but the look that Thalia was giving her persuaded her to keep quiet.

“He is dating one of your best friends. This needs to stop.” Annabeth sighed.

“I know.” She said eventually. Thalia sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“How long has this been going on? And what exactly is going on?”

“Nothing!” Annabeth said. “We're not doing anything, it's just...” She ran her fingers over her face and looked at Thalia. “It's not easy.”

“What do you mean?” Thalia sat beside her friend, and leaned back. “You're with Luke, isn't that enough?”

“Yes!” Thalia raised her eyebrows at her. “Sort of.”

“Why only sort of?”

“He's great.” Annabeth said, “But I don't know if he and I are really good for each other.” She sighed and looked at Thalia. “You know how the person you're with is supposed to make you want to be better? Luke just lets me be me. I don't feel the need to change. But Percy makes me want to be a nicer person. He makes me want to be better.” Thalia put her arm around her friend and comforted her.

“I can see why it's not easy then.”

“Yup.” Annabeth wasn't sure what else she should say. Now that her feelings had been said out loud they seemed real. Before she could convince herself that it was just because Percy was gorgeous and smiled at her a lot. She looked at Thalia for guidance.

“What do I do? How can I get out of this without hurting anyone?”

“You know someone is going to get hurt.” Thalia told her. “That's just the way things are.”

“I figure you're talking about Luke.”

“And Rachel.”

“What?” Annabeth was confused. “Why Rachel?”

“Because I've never seen him look at Rachel the way he looks at you.” Thalia smiled at her friend. “I think it's safe to say that whatever you feel for him, he feels for you.” Annabeth felt her heart beat in her ears.

“What do you think I should do?” Annabeth said. “Luke and I aren't hanging out again for a few days.”

“You need to tell him what's going on.” Thalia said. “He deserves to know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Annabeth stood up and Thalia followed, both of them going into the kitchen area.

“You also need to talk to Percy.” She continued. “You can't just break him and Rachel up. That's not fair to Rachel, but you also deserve to be happy, and so does he.”

“He seems happy with her though.” Annabeth pulled a box of crackers out of a cupboard and headed for the stairs.

“You need to talk to Luke.” Thalia called after her. “Soon.”

“I know.” Annabeth said dully, and went up to her room. Thalia sighed and made herself something to eat, when Rachel and Percy emerged from Rachel's room. Thalia shared a look with Percy, who quickly began avoiding her gaze, trying to focus on what Rachel was saying.

“And I know it's only March, but I think this summer we should go to my house for a few weeks.” She smiled at Percy who was nodding. “It would be fun, and we could spend it in my parents summer place.” She winked at him.

“That sounds nice.” But even as he said it, Thalia could see the conflict in his eyes. _Is he thinking about Annabeth right now?_ She wondered to herself. He continued to avoid her gaze, and Thalia settled onto the couch, listening to the conversation the couple was having behind her.

“When are you free this summer?” Rachel was asking Percy. “I should let my parents know soon when I would need the house.”

“I don't know yet.” Percy said. “I'll have to talk to my mom, see if she wants me home this summer, I'll figure it out.”

“Do it soon.” Rachel said, the irritation in her voice barely masked. Thalia tilted her head slightly towards the stairs, wondering what Annabeth was doing. Was she really just sitting in her room being miserable with crackers? Thalia got up and went to check on her, leaving Percy and Rachel to argue about their summer plans.

“Are you okay?” Thalia said, opening the door to Annabeth's room and finding her on the floor in a blanket.

“I can hear them fighting.” Annabeth said. “I wasn't trying to listen, but I can hear them.” Thalia sat beside her and took a cracker.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault.” Annabeth said. “I just don't like hearing them fighting.” She closed her eyes and ate another cracker. “Because she's pushing him, and I wouldn't do that.”

“I know you wouldn't.” Thalia said to her friend, they sat for a while, trying to keep Annabeth's mind off the couple still talking in the kitchen.

Percy wished he could take a step back. He was happy with Rachel, but the more time he spent with Annabeth, the more he questioned that happiness. He had seen Thalia disappear to Annabeth's room, and wondered what they were talking about.

“And if we're going to spend a week at my house, it will have to be sometime in June.” Rachel was still talking about their summer plans, trips to places Percy had never agreed to, while he thought about the blonde girl upstairs. He wondered if she thought about him as much as he thought about her. If she wanted him like he wanted her. But she was with Luke.

“Just let me talk to my mom.” Percy said. “I'll let you know later.” He left soon after that. Going back to his room to find Grover missing, and he laid back on his bed, sending a text to Rachel, telling her he was sorry for snapping at her, and that he was going to talk to his mom later. _Think nothing of it_. She responded with a smiley face, _I'm just really excited for this summer!_ He couldn't blame her, none of this was her fault, and he liked dating her. But his eyes wandered to the ongoing conversation that he and Annabeth had, and he read through some of their messages, smiling at the messages he had from their late night conversations.

He loved talking to her. He loved that she remembered things about him, his life, and the way she pushed her curls from her face, how her ponytail always looked a little disheveled, and how she is always looking out for those around her. _You drool when you sleep_. He remembered her first words to him when he woke up that morning on her floor. She had been so prickly then. Percy remembered how mean she could be at the beginning of the year, and how she had softened when she started dating Luke. He wasn't sure if he liked thinking about that. Maybe Luke was good for her. He didn't like thinking about that either. He liked thinking about their phone conversations over vacation, and how she chose him over Luke every time.

When Grover came back that night, Percy hadn't moved. He said a brief hello to his friend, and thought about the conversation they had a while back. He could talk to Grover about Annabeth, he knew that, so he turned back to him.

“What do I do?” His voice was soft. “About Annabeth.”

“Uh...” Grover seemed surprised by this question, but he sat on his bed and fell back, stretching his hands above his head. “Whatever you want.” He said eventually. “I'm going to sleep.” Percy rolled his eyes and looked back at his phone. He could text her, talk to her. It was that simple. Her name was right in front of him, _Annabeth Chase_ , just waiting for him to say hello. He typed it out, three little letters, _hey_ , but couldn't quite press send. What was he doing? He was dating Rachel. Nothing would ever happen between him and Annabeth while he was still dating Rachel, and _she_ was still dating Luke. The whole situation seemed hopeless, but Percy wasn't ready to give up just yet. He put his phone down and rubbed his eyes, deciding that everything would be better in the morning, and fell asleep.

Back in her house, Annabeth had finished off the box of crackers and was back in the kitchen, trying to decide if she should continue to just eat her feelings, or if sleep was the best response to whatever she was feeling. Eventually she settled that she would eat the half sandwich she had made herself, and then she would go to sleep. But before she could get back to her room, Rachel had come out of her own and into the kitchen.

“Hey.” She said when she saw Annabeth. “I didn't know you were still up.”

“Oh, yeah just making a snack.” Annabeth held up the half sandwich and walked towards the stairs.

“Do you have a minute?” Rachel said. “I wanted to ask you something.” Dread filled Annabeth's stomach. Did Rachel know about her feelings for Percy? Was she going to confront her? Annabeth turned back to Rachel and nodded.

“Yeah sure, what's up?”

“I think I'm scaring Percy off.” She said. “I was trying to get him to make plans with me for this summer, and he didn't want to.” She shook her head. “Do you think he's going to break up with me?”

“I wouldn't jump to that conclusion.” Annabeth said, and took a bite of her sandwich. “Maybe he just doesn't know what he's going to be doing this summer, and doesn't want to plan something with you, and then have to cancel later.”

“Oh.” Rachel said, and she nodded. “That makes sense.”

“You know how close he is with his mom.” Annabeth said. “Maybe he wants to spend the summer with her.” She shrugged and started for the stairs again.

“How do you know that?” Rachel said. “He doesn't talk about her much here.”

“Oh, you probably mentioned it at one point or another.” Annabeth said, deciding not to tell Rachel about the phone calls she and Percy had shared over winter break. She went up to her room before Rachel could ask her anything else, and finished her sandwich, going to sleep still feeling nervous about what the next day would bring.

When she woke up, Annabeth knew that she had to talk to Luke as soon as possible. She had class that day, but knew his schedule pretty well, and knew he would be finished with class at two. She sent him a quick text and got dressed, going downstairs and finding Thalia, Clarisse, and Rachel in the kitchen.

“Good morning!” Rachel said when Annabeth came downstairs, and was in a particularly good mood, and Annabeth smiled at her.

“What's going on?” She asked, and Rachel twirled for a moment.

“Percy is going to come home with me for a week in June.” Rachel said. “We are very excited.” She giggled and Annabeth turned to the others. Clarisse looked excited for Rachel, but Thalia was looking at Annabeth, her expression curious. Annabeth quickly turned away from her, and went about her day, going to class and going home, waiting until two when she called Luke.

“Hey, I was just thinking about you.” He told her, and Annabeth smiled sadly to herself.

“Want to come over?” She asked. “I haven't seen you all week.”

“Yeah, sure I'll be by in a bit.” They hung up and Annabeth sighed, going downstairs to find Rachel and Percy in the kitchen. She stopped herself from interrupting, watching as he laughed with her the way he had laughed with Annabeth the day before, holding onto Rachel the the way he had held Annabeth, giving her his full attention.

“Oh! Annabeth!” Rachel said when she noticed her friend. Percy turned to her, and his smile made Annabeth's knees weak.

“I uh, I just came down to get something to drink. Luke's coming over, let him in will you?” She said to Rachel, refusing to let her eyes wander back to Percy, who was staring at her.

“Yeah sure.” Rachel said and she went back to Percy, “And there's this great restaurant by my house that we're going to have to try.” She rambled on while Annabeth went back to her room, finally breaking down and crying. She had wanted to cry for so long, as she sobbed into a pillow she even began to relax a bit, feeling better than she had in weeks.

“Annabeth?” She heard Luke's voice before she saw him, and she sat up, giving him a smile. “Are you okay?” He asked, and sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“No.” She whispered. “I'm not.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Percabeth is spotted on the distant horizon!


	11. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Back again with more angst for you. Enjoy!

Luke wasn't stupid. He could tell what she was trying to say. He had been watching Annabeth for months, looking at the smile on her face, the way her eyes flashed when she was mad. But he had also seen Percy. He had seen how she lit up when he looked at her, and how he looked when she gave him the attention he so craved from her. Luke wasn't stupid, and he would have had to have been an idiot not to notice Percy and Annabeth. But while she tried to tell him that she just didn't feel the same way about him that she did before, Luke shook his head and sighed.

“That's the problem.” He told her. “You _do_ feel the same way about me that you always have.” He took her hand and smiled at her. “It wasn't your feelings for me that changed.” She sighed and tried to smile back, nodding at him she squeezed his hand.

“I think you're right, I'm sorry.”

“Don't be sorry.” Luke said, and he meant it. This wasn't Annabeth's fault, not really. “I do have one question though.” He said. “When did you realize it?”

“Realize what?” Annabeth was looking at him with innocence in her eyes, as if she was praying Luke not to ask her.

“That you're in love with Percy.” The silence that followed his statement only confirmed for Luke what he suspected.

“I'm not-” Annabeth started eventually, but Luke shook his head.

“I just want to know when.”

Annabeth sighed and looked at Luke, She wanted to tell him the truth. That she had been harboring her feelings for Percy since winter break, but would that hurt or help him? She rubbed her eyes and felt his hand on her shoulder.

“It's okay.” He said softly. “You can tell me.” She sighed and nodded her head, taking a deep breath, and starting from the beginning.

“I told you how Percy and I met right?” She said, and Luke nodded. “He fell asleep on my floor, and I had to kick him out.” She smiled at the memory. “I thought he was cute.” She continued, and told Luke how Percy had texted her, how their Monday morning conversations were some of her favorite, and how over the semester they had become close friends.

“Over winter break, we talked a lot.” She looked at Luke. “On the phone. He would call me, or I would call him, and we would just talk.”

“About what?” Luke asked, his face pained.

“Everything.” She told him. “He listened to me when my dad was being annoying, and he made sure that I was alright.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” Luke asked. “You should have called me.”

“I know.” Annabeth said. “But you don't hear me the way he does.” She shook her head, and looked at him. “You asked me, and I'm answering you, if you don't want to know then don't ask.” But Luke let her continue, and she told him about being picked up from the airport by Percy.

“He looked so happy to see her, and I was so happy it was him. I just wanted to hug him and forget that the rest of the world existed. I don't remember when it was, Luke. I just know it happened, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“There's still nothing you can do about it.” Luke said, and Annabeth turned to him. “He's still dating Rachel.

“I know.” She said. “But I can't help it.”

“Are you going to break them up?”

“I can't do that to Rachel.” Annabeth said. “It wouldn't be right, and she's one of my best friends, and I couldn't do that to her.”

“But are you going to?” Luke asked. “Are you going to break them up?”

“Does it make me a terrible person if I've thought about it?” She asked him. “Because I have.”

“I don't think it makes you a terrible person.” Luke put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Do you love him?”

“I think so.” She whispered. She hadn't dared to think it yet. Thoughts became actions too easily, and Annabeth couldn't afford to make a wrong move.

“I think you do.” Luke told her. “You just have to realize it on your own.” He kissed her softly on the top of the head and got up, heading for the door.

“That's it?” She asked as his hand touched the knob. “That's all?”

“Unless you want a long drawn out fight, yeah. I think this is the best way for things to end.”

“I wanted to love you.” She told him. “I wanted to be in love with you, but I couldn't, not like I should have.”

“I'll see you around Annabeth.” Luke said, and he left her alone, staring at the door he had closed behind him.

She turned to the mirror and sighed at her reflection. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were red from when she had been crying earlier. She was still wearing her comfortable sweatpants and a hoodie, making her look like a ball of fuzz. She bit her lip and let the thoughts Luke had put in her mind swirl around. _I love him_. She didn't say his name, not yet, she wasn't quite ready to put his name there. So instead she got up and went downstairs, looking for something to eat. She prayed she wouldn't run into Percy and Rachel, finding the kitchen empty and saying a silent thank you to whoever might have been watching over her. Grabbing crackers as fast as she could, she made a break for the stairs. Reaching the top step as Rachel and Percy emerged from her room.

“But I'll see you tomorrow.” He told her, grabbing his coat and heading for the door. “Grover sounds pretty upset though.”

“Okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow.” Rachel kissed Percy and he backed to the door, Annabeth watching him smile at Rachel. But Rachel turned away the second before Percy opened the door, and his eyes wandered, finding Annabeth. His mouth opened, as though he wanted to say something, but instead he just smiled. That sweet and beautiful smile that Annabeth was so fond of. _I love you_. She thought in her head, _I love you_. The words were terrifying as he left her, box of crackers clasped to her chest, leaning back on the wall behind her. She went for her room and was almost crying again. _I love Percy Jackson_ , she thought to herself, and then turning to her reflection in the mirror, her voice soft, she whispered. “I love Percy Jackson.” She covered her mouth as soon as she said it, as though she could take it back. But now that the thought had escaped from her mind, there was nothing she could do about it. She loved Percy Jackson.

While Annabeth realized her feelings for Percy, he walked back to his room, finding Grover looking distraught.

“What's going on buddy?” Percy asked, throwing his coat on his bed.

“I forgot about this paper I have to write, but I also promised I would help move furniture for Juniper's house, so can you help move furniture so I can write this paper?”

“That's it?” Percy said, laughing as he picked up his coat again. “Of course I'll move furniture. You're crazy to think I wouldn't have.”

“It's been a long semester.” Grover said, and pressed his palms to his eyes. “Juniper is going to be here in a few minutes, be ready.”

“I'm just about as ready as I can be.” Percy said, and waited for Juniper. He had met her a few times, and was surprised at how equally sweet and terrifying she could be. She was short, but when she yelled at Grover, Percy made sure to be scarce.

“You know Juniper wouldn't be mad at you for not being able to move furniture if you told her it was for homework. She's always looking out for you like that.”

“I know.” Grover said, but he didn't stop to look up at Percy, opening his computer and beginning to type. “I just don't want to disappoint her, you know?” Percy did know what he meant.

“She loves you too much to be disappointed because you have homework.” Percy hit Grover in the shoulder playfully and opened the door a few moments later when Juniper knocked.

“Ready to move some furniture?” She said, smiling at them.

“I have to stay here June.” Grover said, and she went to stand at his side, letting him lock his arms around her waist and bury his face in her stomach. “I have homework.” Juniper rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair.

“I know you have homework.” She said, and pulled away from him. “Come on Percy.” Percy smiled at Grover as Juniper dragged him out of the room.

“I love you!” Grover called, and Juniper turned back.

“I love you too now finish your homework!” Grover smiled to himself as they left, getting back to work while Percy and Juniper made their way towards the parking lot.

“How long have you guys been together again?” Percy asked. “A while right?”

“It's been a long time.” Juniper said, and she sighed. “I think we're getting close to five years.”

“Wow.” Percy said. “That's amazing, and you both ended up here.”

“Well that was planned obviously.” She said. “Next year he's coming to live in the house with me.”

“Yeah he mentioned that.” Percy said. “Are you guys buying a double bed, or just sticking the twins next to each other?”

“I think we'll buy a double.” Juniper said. “Then we'll just take it with us when we get our apartment.”

“You guys have it all figured out don't you.”

“We just know what we want.” She said. They had made it to the parking lot, and Percy unlocked his car. “We're not engaged officially, but we've talked about getting married.” Percy was surprised by this. He knew Grover loved Juniper, but he had never heard him talk about marrying her.

“How did you know you wanted to marry him?” Percy asked. “I mean, Grover's great, but how many other guys have you dated?”

“None.” She said dreamily. “It's always been the two of us.” She thought for a moment, and then laughed. “I guess I just looked ahead, and couldn't imagine continuing without him with me.” She said. “I tried to see myself in ten years, sleeping next to someone else, having children with someone else, and I just couldn't do it. It didn't matter how perfect they seemed, they weren't Grover.” She turned and smiled at Percy.

“Don't you see you and Rachel in ten years, maybe a kid or two?” Juniper was smiling at Percy but the pit in his stomach that had taken up residence when Rachel suggested they spend the summer together tightened at the thought of still being with her in ten years.

“Sure.” He said, and tried to smile at her, but Juniper narrowed her eyes at him as he backed the car out of his spot.

“You don't see yourself marrying Rachel do you.” It wasn't a question.

“No.” Percy said, not meeting her eyes. “I don't.”

“Then what are you still doing with her?”

“I'm just having fun in college.” Percy said. “Why does every relationship have to be looking for the one?”

“It doesn't.” She said. “But does Rachel know that you guys aren't forever?” Percy thought about it, and wasn't sure. She had talked about them getting together over the summer, and then she had talked about them living together off campus together their senior year... He turned to Juniper for a moment.

“What if she thinks it's for forever?”

“Then you have a problem, and turn left here.” Juniper said, directing Percy where to drive. “If she thinks you guys are going to be forever, or at least until you graduate, and you're already able to say that no she's not, then you have to say something.”

“What, like, just break up with her?” Percy said, confused by Juniper's train of thought.

“You might have to.” She said, and smiled sadly at him. “You guys have been together since last summer, if you don't want a future with her now then you never will.”

“And you just know that Grover is the one you want to marry?” Percy asked, still confused.

“Yup. I just know it.” She said, and smiled at him. “He makes me better, and I make him better.” Together they loaded the furniture into Percy's car and delivered it.

“Thanks again for your help.” Juniper told him. “Tell Grover to get back to work.” She said. “He'll want to stop and talk to you.”

“Will do.” Percy said, and left her, parking his car and walking back to his room.

On the way he thought about his future. It was true that he didn't really see himself with Rachel, and even when he tried to picture it, anything he came up with seemed warped and wrong. He didn't see a shared apartment, or a wedding, he didn't see the years of happiness that Grover and Juniper already seemed to have behind them. His mind wandered for the briefest second, and Annabeth flashed in his mind. He stopped walking for a moment, as scenes played out in his mind. He and Annabeth picking out somewhere to live, fighting like they always did, laughing and hugging. He stopped himself before he could imagine in too much detail what it would be like to kiss her. _No_ , he thought. He couldn't keep thinking about Annabeth. She was with Luke, and he was with Rachel. That was just the way things were.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost spring break, hopefully I'll be able to write more then. Thanks for sticking around!


	12. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings from Spring break! Enjoy!

_The way things were_ , however, in Percy's mind did not last long.

“Hold on, what's happening?” Percy was on the phone with Rachel. “What happened to Annabeth?”

“We're not having a party, we're having a girls night, and you can't come.” Rachel told him. But Percy was still confused.

“But why?” He asked. “Why are you having a girls night?”

“Because Annabeth broke up with Luke!” Rachel was still talking, but Percy had stopped listening. Annabeth broke up with Luke. He smiled and tried to listen to what Rachel was saying, but could only agree with her when she prompted and say goodbye and see you later before she hung up. He turned to Grover, who was looking at him wearily.

“I already know.” Grover said. “June told me.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” Percy said. “She's my friend too.”

“Then why didn't _she_ tell you?” Grover asked, and Percy had to think about it. Why hadn't Annabeth told him she and Luke weren't dating? “Maybe you're not as close as you thought.” Grover said, and went back to this work. Percy glared at him and then looked at his phone. He hadn't heard from Annabeth in a while, and wanted to talk to her.

“I'll wait until she tells me.” Percy said eventually. “When she wants to tell me, she will.” But as the days went on, and still no word from Annabeth. Percy decided it was time to take measures into his own hands, and a week after Grover had told him about the break up, Percy texted Annabeth. It was simple, just, _Hey, how you been?_ And he hoped it would be enough for her to finally tell him that she had broken up with Luke. Percy still wasn't sure why it mattered to him so much, but he wanted her to know that he was still her friend, and that she could tell him anything that was going on in her life, and he would support her.

“You're spending way too much time on this.” Grover told his friend. “She's not going to tell you herself.” He thought for a moment. “She probably knows Rachel told you.”

“Oh.” Percy said. “I hadn't thought of that.” Grover smiled and grabbed his keys.

“Well you keep pining over a girl who is _not_ your girlfriend, I'm going to meet my actual girlfriend.” He patted his friend on the shoulder and went for the door. Percy was left alone in the dorm, staring at the wall, and thinking about Rachel. He liked dating her. It was easy, he didn't have to think about it. They worked well together, and she was always pushing him to do new things.

He thought about the course of their relationship. Careful flirting that had soon turned into something more. He thought about their first few dates, how awkwardness had slowly turned into a curiosity that kept them together while they told each other about their lives. He and Rachel worked well together. His phone went off then, and his thoughts of Rachel were interrupted by the thought that it might be Annabeth. But it was Rachel, inviting him to a party they were having that weekend. _We want to do something this weekend_ , it read, _since we didn't before_. He texted her back that he would be there, and looked at the message he had sent to Annabeth. Why hadn't she responded? He was her friend. Wasn't he? He had no idea.

While Percy tried to figure out his relationship with Annabeth, she was trying to convince Rachel that she was doing fine.

“But you seen sad, and you never hang out with us anymore!” Rachel whined. “I know you and Luke were close, but come on! Let's do something, I'm worried about you.” Thalia, who was sitting beside them, stayed quiet.

“Alright.” Annabeth said eventually. “We'll all go out on Friday night, and then on Saturday we'll have the party here alright?” Rachel nodded and went to grab her phone.

“You're over Luke.” Thalia said when Rachel was gone. “He's not the one you're upset about.”

“You can't tell her anything.” Annabeth said. “He's dating Rachel, and that's the end of it.” But even Annabeth was unconvinced by her own words. She remembered the text he had sent her days before. The one that she had ignored for more reasons than one.

“I'm not saying I'm happy about it.” Annabeth said when Thalia continued to look at her. “But it's just how things are.”

Rachel came back with her phone a few moments later and was still typing when she sat down.

“Alright, I've been asking around, and tomorrow night there's going to be a party at a few houses, we're going out.” She smiled at her friends. “Percy's coming with us, and maybe Grover and Juniper if they're not hanging out.” Thalia looked to Annabeth who was forcing a smile as best she could. She knew spending an entire night with Percy wasn't going to do Annabeth any good, but she also wasn't sure how to bring it up without making Rachel suspect something. So she nodded along with Annabeth, who said she had some wok to get done, and went to her room soon after. Thalia watched her go, seeing her wipe her eyes for a moment before closing the door to her room.

“I hope she feels better soon.” Rachel said, smiling sadly at the closed door. “I know she liked dating Luke, but I don't think she loved him or anything.”

“No, I don't think she did.” Thalia said. She looked at Rachel and couldn't help but feel pity. It was obvious how Annabeth and Percy felt about each other, even if they couldn't quite see it yet. There was no way they were making it out of this without some heart break. Thalia just hoped that by the and if it all, Annabeth and Rachel were still friends. No matter what happened.

Heading back to her room, Rachel pulled out her phone and texted Percy, telling him about their plans for Friday night. _You can come with us_ , she told him, and was met with the response, _Will Annabeth be there?_ She thought this was odd. _Yeah_ , she texted him, and then added, _Why?_ She waited for his response, and when it came she smiled. _Just worried about her, you said she's been in her room a lot_. Of course Percy remembered that. Of course he was worried about Annabeth. That was just the kind of person he was. She threw her phone onto her bed, and did some homework, waiting until Percy came over that night. When there was a knock on the door, Rachel jumped up from where she had been waiting on the couch, and answered it.

Percy was taking off his coat when Annabeth's door opened. He looked up at her and smiled, his attention pulled from Rachel so easily it almost concerned him. But Annabeth smiled back. The sad smile he had seen on her face when he picked her up from the airport, the sad smile he could hear on her face when they talked on the phone.

“Percy?” He heard Rachel's voice, and he turned to her.

“Sorry.” He said, and walked into the living room. But Rachel was looking up to where Annabeth stood, her eyes inquisitive.

“I was just talking about what we're doing this weekend.” She said. “We're going out tomorrow night, and then on Saturday we're having a party here.” She was talking to Percy but her eyes hadn't left Annabeth, who was looking anywhere but at them. She went to the cupboard without a word and grabbed a box of crackers before going back upstairs. Rachel watched her go, and turned to Percy, who had been doing the same.

“Sounds great.” He said, still not looking at Rachel. Later, after Percy had kissed her goodnight and gone back to his dorm, after she was once again alone, Rachel thought about Annabeth. Why hadn't she stopped to say hello when she came downstairs? Was Annabeth mad at her about something? No, what would she be mad about. _Maybe she's just taking out her anger on you because she knows you won't get mad at her_. Rachel thought to herself. She had heard of this. Best friends arguing over things that make no sense because they'll always be best friends. _That must be it_. She thought, and went up to Annabeth's room.

“Hey, it's just me.” She said, and opened the door, finding Annabeth asleep on her bed, phone in hand, crackers pulled close to her chest. Rachel smiled and pulled a blanket up over her friend, taking the crackers from her, and then the phone. It was plugged in, and the screen was still lit up. Rachel looked at it, and did a double take. It was opened to her messages, more specifically, Percy. She knew she shouldn't snoop, but she was curious, and Percy was her boyfriend. Where was the harm. She read through some of the messages, confused by what they meant. _Thanks for listening_ , one said, _How did it get to be so late?_ Another the same time read. She scrolled through, and looked at when they were sent. Over winter break. She got her answer a moment later. _Can I call you?_ A message from Annabeth read, _I just need someone to talk to_. Rachel looked, there was no reply from Percy that answered the question. It only said, _Next time I'm peeing before you call_.

They had been talking, on the phone. Her boyfriend, and her best friend. She looked at Annabeth's sleeping form, and it all hit her at once. Annabeth wasn't upset that she and Luke had broken up. She was upset because of Percy. Rachel scrolled back down to the end of the messages. The last one sent had been Percy a few days ago, asking how Annabeth was. Rachel's fingers itched to send something. But even she wasn't that vindictive. She trusted Percy, and knew that while Annabeth seemed to have a crush on him, Percy was Rachel's.

Rachel set the phone next to Annabeth and left the room, putting the crackers away before heading for her room. She texted Percy goodnight and went to bed, falling asleep easily, and waking up the next morning excited for what the weekend would bring.

Percy on the other hand woke up and was anxious to see Annabeth again, unsure of how to approach her. She still hadn't texted him, and he was beginning to think he had misread any feelings or friendship they might have had, and that she really was just avoiding him because she didn't like him. No, that couldn't be true. They had been so close over winter break. Talking to each other in the late hours of the night, making the other feel better, and not so alone. But her recent actions would suggest that she didn't want to see him, ever, he had to persist. _The party_ , he thought, _I'll talk to her then_.

When classes ended on Friday, Rachel went home to find Annabeth on the couch, reading upside down as she did sometimes when she was thinking.

“Are you excited for tonight?” Rachel asked her. “We're going to party!” She danced in front of Annabeth for a moment before Annabeth sat up, laughing, and eventually joined her.

“Have you already planned where we're going?” Annabeth asked, sitting on the couch beside Rachel. “Or are we winging it like always?”

“We are winging it.” Rachel said, nodding. “That's the only real way to go out.”

“True.” Annabeth said, she picked up her book, going for the stairs.

“Hey, are you sure you're okay?” Rachel asked. “You've been a little off lately.” She desperately wanted to ask Annabeth about Percy, but there was no subtle way of bringing it up.

“I'm fine.” Annabeth said, and smiled at her. “But you're the best for worrying about me.” Rachel watched her go, and sat alone on the couch, with only her thoughts to accompany her.

A few hours later, Rachel was sitting with Annabeth in her room, helping her to pick out an outfit.

“We have to get you in something small.” Rachel said. “The smaller the better.”

“But why?” Annabeth said, laughing as Rachel threw clothes at her.

“Because you've got to get back out there!” Rachel was saying. “Find a casual hook up.” She said, and threw more clothes at Annabeth. Eventually they managed to pick out an outfit, and Annabeth started getting dressed.

“Percy's here.” Rachel said while she pulled on a small skirt. “Come down when you're ready.”

“Will do.” Annabeth said as she started messing with her hair. “But don't hold your breath.” Rachel went downstairs and let Percy in, giving him a kiss and putting her arms around his waist and smiling up at him.

“Annabeth's almost ready, and Thalia is waiting on the couch.” Percy nodded, and his eyes went to the stairs as they heard a door open. Percy hadn't seen Annabeth's hair down in a while. He liked it, he decided, and he watched as she descended the stairs, unable to take his eyes off her.

“You look great.” He said, and she blushed.

“Thanks.” Was all she managed to say. Rachel on the other hand didn't say anything, she was looking back and forth between Percy and Annabeth, her mind telling her things that she didn't want to believe. Percy was her boyfriend, he didn't want Annabeth. She tried to tell herself, but the way he was looking at her would beg to differ. His eyes were glued to her face, his smile only for her. Rachel watched them, and turned to Thalia who had gotten up off the couch. Her eyes found Rachel's, and Rachel knew that Thalia could see it too. Percy and Annabeth.

They went out that night, Rachel keeping a close eye on her friend and boyfriend, keeping them apart as much as she could. Neither seemed bothered by this, but continued to sneak glances at the other. The party they had the next night was the same. Rachel staying glued to Percy's hip, making sure that he was with her, and not talking to Annabeth. Their spring break was the first week of April, and while she was going to have to give up her cause for this, Annabeth would be going back to California, far away from Percy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over half way done, getting down to the last few chapters of Percy and Annabeth's year in college. Might do a sequel, haven't decided yet. Depends on when I finish this.


	13. April

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, it's been a hectic couple weeks. Enjoy!

Annabeth was back in California for a week. She was determined to stay on Eastern Time, as it wasn't a long enough vacation for her to commit to California time. This meant she was up at weird hours, and went to bed earlier than even her younger half brothers. But it also meant she had a reason not to talk to her father. This made things easier. She spent her days waiting to go back to sleep, talking to Thalia, checking in with Rachel, keeping her thoughts off of Percy as much as she could. This was easier said than done. Rachel seemed to have made it her sole purpose to bring him up in every conversation she had with Annabeth, telling her friend how excited she was to spend the summer with her boyfriend.

Since they talked at least twice a day, Annabeth found Percy in her thoughts on more than one occasion, picturing his face in her mind, and seeing his smile when she closed her eyes. She talked to Thalia as well, who tried to keep her mind off Percy by asking her if there was anyone back home she was interested in. _If you don't look for someone else, you won't find them_. She had told Annabeth. But Annabeth had rolled her eyes. No one came close to Percy Jackson.

But Annabeth wasn't the only one who found herself thinking about someone she shouldn't be. Percy spent his days talking to Rachel, and then telling her he was going to sleep. But his thoughts wandered to Annabeth on the other side of the country. To her blonde curly hair that he had always thought of as princess like. Her gray eyes that seemed to see him as more than the funny guy who dated Rachel. He tried to think of her as only Rachel's friend. But she was so much more than that. He thought of her when her woke up in the morning, wanting to ask how she was doing. He knew from Rachel that she was on Eastern time, and it nearly killed him knowing they were awake at the same time. He wondered if she thought of him as much as he thought of her.

By the middle of the week, Annabeth had managed to stay on Eastern time with no trouble. She would spend time with her half brothers, falling asleep at the same time they did, and waking up early in the morning, sitting at the kitchen table at around 5AM and waiting for the rest of the house to wake up. During this time she would browse the web, not wanting to watch TV and risk waking everyone up. It was her favorite time of day. When she was completely alone with nothing but the hum of the fridge to keep her company. This was when she found her thoughts on Percy the most. When there was no one around to take her mind off of him, no Rachel to talk to, no Thalia to tell her to get out of the house and find someone else. She was alone. But it also gave her time to relax. She had been working hard over the past few weeks, trying to keep her mind off everything, and being home gave her the time to sit and do nothing that she had been waiting for.

But even spring breaks have to come to an end, and by the time the week was up, Annabeth was more than ready to get to the airport. She said goodbye to her stepmother and half brothers at the door, and got into the car with her father. She hugged him briefly, and got onto the plane, falling asleep immediately and sleeping her way back to the east coast. When she woke up the plane was landing. Annabeth rubbed her eyes and stretched, running her fingers through her hair before pulling out her phone to text Thalia, letting her know that she was back and would need to be picked up. _On my way_ , Thalia's quick reply came. Annabeth smiled at her phone and shoved it into her pocket, sighing as she pulled her carry on bag behind her and exited the plane.

It was colder than California, but the April air was refreshing on her skin, waking her up as she walked toward the airport. She soon found Thalia, and they drove in silence back to campus. Annabeth knew Thalia wanted to ask her about her break, but she kept her mouth shut and let the scenery pass by. When they reached the house, Thalia followed Annabeth upstairs, and Annabeth left the door open so Thalia could follow her inside as well.

“Alright.” Thalia closed the door behind her and put her hands on her hips. “How are you?”

“I'm fine.” Annabeth said, and tried to smile, but Thalia narrowed her eyes at her.

“I don't believe you.” She crossed her arms. “Have you talked to him?”

“Nope.” Annabeth said. “And I'm not going to. He's dating Rachel.”

“But he wants to be dating you.” Thalia said. “I know he does.” Annabeth wanted to believe her friend, but she still wasn't convinced that Percy wanted _her_ over Rachel.

On the other side of campus, Percy was getting back as well. He dumped his stuff at the door and fell onto his bed, sighing as he looked over to where Grover wasn't. He figured that Grover either hadn't gotten back yet, or he was with Juniper. He had been spending more time with her lately, and while Percy was happy for his friend, it made him jealous. He wished he was as happy with Rachel as Grover was with Juniper.

He closed his eyes and relaxed for a bit, groaning when his phone went off. Luckily, it was only Grover asking if he was back on campus yet. _Just got back_ , Percy told him, and he waited for Grover to come back. When he heard the door unlock, he sat up and waited while Grover came into the room.

“How was your break?” He asked. Grover had gone to Juniper's house for the break, spending a week with her family as he had done the year before, as she spent part of summer at his house.

“Great.” Grover said, and he dropped his bag on the floor next to his bed. “Juniper and I ended up driving back in her car instead of flying, so it was a long trip back, but now she has a car on campus.”

“Her parents finally decide she needed one?”

“More like they bought another car and gave her the oldest one.” Percy laughed as Grover sat down.

“Well at least she has a car now.”

“She's not looking forward to driving it home alone.” Grover said. “Luckily for her I'm going to volunteer last minute to drive with her. I'm gonna spend a few weeks at her house and then we're going to mine.”

“Are you guys gonna live together next year?” Percy asked, and Grover nodded.

“We want to get an apartment together off campus for senior year, but for right now we're just gonna be living in her house together.”

“And you don't think you'll break up and then regret living with her?” Percy asked. Grover thought for a moment, and shook his head.

“No, I really love her, and I don't know I just feel like I always will.” He smiled and looked away from Percy. Percy laid back and thought about Rachel. Did he think he would always love her? Did he even love her? He stopped for a moment and thought. Did he love Rachel Dare? _No_. The word seemed weird to hear in his own head. But it was true. He didn't love her. Not like he wanted to. Not like she needed him to. That when he realized he never would. He wasn't pulled to her the way he was pulled to Annabeth. Trying to take his mind off Annabeth, he texted Rachel, asking her if she was back on campus yet. _I'm back, want to come over?_ Percy looked down at his phone, and texted her back, _I'll be there in a few_.

When he got to the house, Rachel greeted him, kissing him as she pulled into the house.

“I missed you.” She said, and pulled him towards her room, trying to push him out of his clothes as soon as she closed the door behind his back. But Percy didn't feel the same passion he felt for her before the break. He didn't wrap his arms around her waist, he didn't try to pull her shirt up over her head, he pulled away.

“Actually I'm kind of tired from driving, mind if we just take a nap together?” Rachel looked a little put out, but she didn't protest, and lightly kissed him again, pulling out her laptop and smiling as they fell into her bed together. Percy let her curl up next to him, trying to pay attention to what they were watching. But his mind was racing as he looked down at her head. The red hair that once seemed so beautiful just looks like a tangled mess now. She had her hand on his chest and was drumming out some song while her laptop played a TV show Percy had lost track of. He watched her fingers for a moment, trying to make up his mind on what to do.

He thought about the months that he and Rachel had spent dating. He had enjoyed spending time with her, and there had even been a time when he thought he might love her. But that was before he had gotten to know the kind of person he really wanted to be with. Before he had gotten to know Annabeth. When Rachel told Percy she was going to do homework and then sleep for the night, Percy got up and stretched, smiling at her and trying to decide what to do. He didn't want to lead her on, but what was he going to do? Break up with her and then try to date Annabeth? No. Annabeth would never go for that. Rachel was one of her best friends.

But he couldn't help but entertain the idea as he followed her into the kitchen. This was only exemplified by the fact that Annabeth was sitting on the counter, eating crackers out of the box. There was nothing special about what she was wearing, or how she had her hair, but as Percy looked at her, he felt his skin tingle. She was beautiful. She turned, cracker almost falling out of her mouth, and her eyes widened. She bit down and started to chew, covering her mouth before hopping off the counter.

“I didn't know you were here.” She said to Rachel. “When did you get back?” She hugged her friend, but her eyes fell on Percy, finding his as she gave him a small smile.

“A few hours ago, I've been with Percy. What are you doing?” Rachel asked as she pulled away.

“Oh you know, just eating crackers and thinking about all the homework I'm not doing.” Annabeth said.

“I think I might join you.” Rachel said, and laughed as she pulled a cracker out of the box. Annabeth offered it to Percy who took one cautiously, never letting his eyes leave hers.

“Bring your stuff down here and we can do homework together.” Rachel said, as she continued to move Percy towards the door. He went without a fight, but as he looked at her again, he knew his mind was made up. He couldn't lead her on like this anymore. It wasn't fair to her. She didn't deserve this.

“I'll see you later.” Rachel said, and she kissed him again, before opening the door for him. Percy's eyes went to the staircase one last time, catching a glimpse of Annabeth as she made her way to her room.

“Sounds good.” He told her, forcing a smile and heading back to his dorm. The night wasn't particularly cold, but he was glad to be back inside, laying on his bed. He knew what he was going to do. All he had to do was find the courage to do it. He had to break up with Rachel.

 


	14. Breakup

Trying to find the right words to break up with Rachel proved hard. Percy thought about it the entirety of the next week, losing focus in class, and standing in front of the mirror on the back of his door, practicing what he was going to say to her. He spent less time with her, hoping that it would help with the break up, but it only made her want to see him more. Percy blamed his inability to hang out with her on schoolwork, but Rachel was getting suspicious something was up.

“I think something's wrong with Percy.” She told Thalia one afternoon. “He's not talking to me, and he's just being weird.” Thalia had come to the conclusion that Percy's growing feelings for Annabeth were at least part of the reason that Percy had been distant, but she didn't think Rachel would pick up on it.

“Weird, like weird? Or just Percy being Percy?” Thalia said. “Because he is weird.”

“He's being weird like weird.” Rachel said. “This isn't normal for him.”

“Maybe he's just really busy.” Thalia said, giving Percy the same excuse that Annabeth had used when Rachel had invited her to tag along to the movies with her and Percy a few nights before. Rachel had been disappointed in her friend then, but Thalia understood. She found Annabeth in her room watching a movie, and sat beside her, putting an arm around her best friend and comforting her as long as she could, trying to ignore the obvious fact that Annabeth was crying.

“Maybe you're right.” Rachel said, and she sighed, running her fingers over her face before standing up. Thalia watched her go and sighed. She didn't like seeing both of her friends distressed over the same guy, and she decided to go talk to Annabeth and see how she was doing.

“I'm watching a movie.” Was Annabeth's reply, but Thalia didn't take the brush off for what it was and sat next to Annabeth.

“Which movie.” She asked. Annabeth sighed and allowed Thalia to sit beside her.

“Rachel thinks something is weird about Percy.” Thalia said eventually.

“If she doesn't know by now something is weird about-” But Thalia shook her head.

“No, like she thinks he might break up with her. He's been weird lately she said, and he's been almost avoiding her.” Annabeth didn't say anything, but Thalia could see her eye brows crease.

“That is odd.” She said quietly, and turned back to her screen. But Thalia could have sworn she saw the shadow of a smile on Annabeth's face.

As Percy continued to try to break up with Rachel, Rachel tried to make plans with Percy for the summer.

“We need to buy plane tickets now so it's not too expensive when the time comes.” Rachel was telling him. “We have to buy them before May if we don't there aren't going to be any tickets.” She was following Percy from her room to the living room. It had taken her almost a week of nagging him, but she had finally got him to come over again.

“I don't know when my mom wants me home yet.” Percy said, heading for the fridge and pulling out a bottle of coke. “I'll call her tonight, but she might need a little more time figuring out our schedule for the summer.”

“I wasn't aware you had such a complicated schedule.” Rachel said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. She didn't like fighting with Percy, but she had found that he could be the most irritating person in her life.

“Things come up.” Percy said, and Rachel just rolled her eyes.

“Fine.” She said. “You can show yourself out, I'm taking a nap.” Percy sighed and took a sip of coke.”

“Lovers quarrel?” He heard a voice from the top of the stairs and looked up. With her hair around her face and her gray eyes shining, Annabeth looked down at him. She was biting her bottom lip and her eyebrows were raised as she tried not to smile. Percy stared at her for a few moments longer before he managed to speak.

“Yeah, she's just trying to plan this summer.” _Please come down the stairs, please come down the-No_ what was he thinking? Despite his efforts he was still technically dating Rachel. He rubbed his temples for a moment and closed his eyes, unable to hear as she made her way down the stairs. When he opened his eyes she was standing a few feet away from him, her hands clasped in front of her looking down at the floor.

“I'm sorry.” She said. “Sometimes Rachel isn't the easiest person in the world to deal with, but she's just trying to make things easier for you.”

“How do you figure?” Percy said, and Annabeth looked up at him.

“Well you have a tendency to be a little scattered, and she wants to make sure you have all your summer plans in place before finals hit, just so that when she's trying to get out of here it won't be such a struggle. She's just a perfectionist like that.” She blinked for a moment and shook her head. “She means well.” She added this quickly. “But sometimes it comes out all wrong.”

For a moment neither said anything, and they stood, staring at each other mere feet apart. Percy couldn't take his eyes away from hers, as they glistened with what looked like gathering tears.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, and Annabeth quickly blinked, wiping her eyes.

“Yeah, I'm fine my eyes have just been a little dry lately and they keep watering.”

“If you say so.” Percy said, and he took another sip of coke.” Annabeth took a deep breath and Percy heard her sniffling for a second, and wiping her nose on the long sleeve of her shirt. Before either could move the door to Rachel's room opened, and she was back.

“Oh.” She said when her eyes found Percy. “I didn't know you were still here.” She turned to Annabeth, and her eyes narrowed for a moment. Annabeth looked away from both of them and backed towards the stairs.

“I'm just going to go up to my room.” She said, and quickly turned, heading upstairs as fast as she could. Percy watched her go before his eyes went back to Rachel.

“I thought you were taking a nap.” He said.

“I thought you were leaving.” She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin in the air.

“I was, but Annabeth came downstairs, and I didn't want to just leave, so here I am.” He said. “Are you still planning on taking a nap?”

“Were you planning on joining me?” Rachel smiled at him, but Percy couldn't say yes. He thought about Annabeth. About how she had looked at him. That wasn't how you looked at a friend.

“No, I should get going.” He said, and took one last look at the door he knew Annabeth was behind before turning towards the door and leaving without another word.

Rachel stood, stunned at what had just happened. Percy had never left without saying goodbye and at least giving her a hug. Ever. She felt her chest begin to constrict and she wrapped her arms around herself, holding together by sheer will as she began to realize that he really was pulling away from her. But why? They had been so happy just weeks before. What had changed since then? Her mind spun for a few moments, before her eyes narrowed in on Annabeth's door. _No_ , she thought to herself, _Annabeth wouldn't_. And that was exactly it. Annabeth wouldn't. That was why she had been so distant. Why whenever Rachel wanted to invite her along she had said no. Annabeth wasn't avoiding Rachel at all, she was avoiding Percy. She sighed and leaned on the counter, trying to figure out what to do with the information she had just figured out. She wondered if Thalia knew, and if maybe she knew more than Rachel did.

Finding out was worth a shot, and she decided to talk to Thalia as soon as she could. Her chance however would not come for some time, as they made their way to the end of April, and finals began to loom in the distance. A week away, the whole campus had gone crazy over them. But one Friday afternoon Rachel found herself sitting with Thalia on the couch, and decided to ask her what she knew about Percy and Annabeth.

“Do you think Annabeth is mad at me about something?” Rachel asked her, trying to sound innocent. “She won't hang out with me anymore, and I want to know why. Have any ideas?” Thalia looked at her, and the expression she wore made Rachel feel like someone was staring directly into her soul, seeing past the lies she told.

“She hasn't been feeling well.” Thalia said. “You should wait until she's feeling better, maybe tomorrow, and then ask her yourself.” She sat back, satisfied with the answer she had given, and the look on her face made it clear to Rachel that she wasn't going to answer another question like that. But before Rachel had a chance, there was a knock on the door. She turned to Thalia who shrugged, but got up and went to the door.

“Oh hey, Percy.” She stepped aside to let him in, and Rachel stood up. She hadn't told him to come over, or even that she was free.

“Hi.” Rachel said when she saw him. He smiled at her.

“I need to talk to you.” He said, and Rachel sighed, this was it.

Walking slowly to her room, Rachel could practically feel the tension Percy was holding back as he stood behind her.

“What's up?” She asked him when she closed the door to her room.

“I can't go to your house this summer.” He said. “I'm just too busy, and I can't take that much time off from work, and I would just be stressed about my mom the whole time, so I can't come see you.” He said. “I'm sorry.”

“That's okay.” Rachel said, _if this is what he has to talk to me about..._ she thought to herself, _then he's even denser than I thought_. But his face didn't lighten as she tried to comfort him.

“There's another reason I can't go with you too.” He took a step towards her and reached for her hands, pulling them close enough to his mouth to give them a gentle kiss. For what seemed like an eternity he didn't let her hands go, and Rachel watched him smiling at her fingers. But eventually he let her hands drop and his eyes met hers.

“Are you happy with me?” His question was quiet, and Rachel had to lean forward a bit to even understand him properly, but she heard him all the same and her eyes widened a little bit when he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice was softer than she had intended, but she nodded as well, hoping he would understand that she _was_ happy with him. “I love being with you.” _I think I love you_ , she thought to herself. He smiled sadly at her.

“I'm not sure if that makes this easier or harder.” He said. And he ran his fingers through his hair. “I'm not happy.” He said eventually, and looked at her. “I wish I was, but I'm not.”

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked. “You're not happy in general, or you're not happy you're dating me?”

“Both.” His voice was now a whisper. “I'm not happy because I'm not happy with our relationship anymore.” He shook his head and sighed, his voice catching as he continued, almost breaking entirely, making Rachel want to pull him into her arms and comfort him. “I wish I was happy with you, I really do. But it's not fair to either of us to continue this.”

“You're breaking up with me.” Rachel said, and she felt her whole body start to numb. “You're breaking up with me.” She said it again, as if waiting for him to contradict her, to pull her close and tell her that no, he wasn't breaking up with her, and that he wanted nothing more than to hold her close forever and love her more than anything in the world. But he stayed still, watching her before nodding his head.

“Yeah, I'm breaking up with you.” Rachel nodded and tried to hold herself together. She was not going to cry while he was still here.

“I knew you'd been acting weird.” She said, and she shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “I knew you were acting weird, and if I had said something sooner than maybe-” But Percy cut her off.

“No, it had nothing to do with you.” He said. “You weren't the cause of this.” Rachel sighed and turned away from him.

“I want you to leave now.” She said. “I should have known.”

“Should have known what?” Percy asked, and Rachel smiled sadly at him, sighing as she let her arms drop to the ground.

“That Annabeth always gets what she wants.” She opened the door, but Percy was just staring at her.

“What are you talking about?” HE asked her. “What does this have to do with Annabeth?” But his heart was racing because that was exactly what this was about.

“She always gets what she wants in the end.” And Rachel opened the door, holding it open for him. “She's creative like that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a few chapters left!!!!!


	15. Party

As Percy walked back to his dorm he couldn't help but think about what Rachel had said. _Annabeth always gets what she wants_. Did Annabeth want _him_? He looked at his phone, and to the conversation thread that he had Annabeth hadn't touched in over a month. He almost typed something. Almost told her that he wasn't with Rachel anymore, and that all he thought about was her. But he didn't. Instead he texted Grover and told him he had ended things with Rachel. _Juniper is proud of you, and says you did the right thing_. Grover's reply came. Percy couldn't help but smile. It was nice to know that while Rachel didn't seem to happy with him at the moment, Juniper was aware of his feelings for Annabeth, and knew he had done the right thing breaking up with Rachel.

Percy walked into his room and found Grover and Juniper exactly where he had left them. Grover sitting on his bed, with a computer beside him, while Juniper used his leg as a pillow, her eyes closed.

“How did it go?” Grover said. “I mean, I know you ended things, but how did she take it.”

“I think she took it well.” Percy said. “But she said something weird as I was leaving.”

“Really?” Grover said, and Juniper opened her eyes, now interested in the conversation.

“Yeah, she said 'Annabeth always gets what she wants' and then just let me leave.” Grover thought for a moment, and he turned to Juniper.

“What do you think?” Juniper sat up and stretched her arms over her head.

“Does Annabeth know you're basically in love with her?” She asked, yawning.

“I hope not.” Percy said. “Grover and you are the only people who know.”

“Maybe it just means that Annabeth feels that same way about you that you feel about her.” Juniper shrugged. “Did you think of that?”

“Does she though?” Percy said. “She was my friend when she was dating Luke, but once she broke up with him she basically stopped talking to me, and wouldn't hang out with Rachel and me. I don't think she likes me very much.”

“Oh honey.” Juniper sighed, and laughed. “She definitely feels the same about you.” She turned to Grover who didn't seem to understand. “She's been avoiding you _because_ she likes you so much that it's hard to be around you with Rachel. But now that you're not dating Rachel it's a nonissue!” She said. “Now go find Annabeth and tell her you love her want want to be with her and sweep her off her feet.” Juniper was trying to shoo him out the door from her seat on Grover's bed, but Percy fell onto his own.

“I can't go back there.” He said. “I just broke up with Rachel, what would she think if I came back only to go find Annabeth?”

“Oh good point,” Juniper said. “Well, I hear they're having a party tomorrow night, you could always find her there. You probably won't even have to see Rachel. We'll go with you and act as a buffer until you find Annabeth.”

“Okay.” Percy said, and he sat back. “I'll go.” Juniper clapped her hands together and gave Grover a kiss.

“You guys have a good afternoon. Grover just text me before you come over.” He gave her a thumbs up and smiled through the pencil he held in his teeth. She rolled her eyes at him and headed for the door.

“And I'll see you tomorrow Percy.” She said, and left them alone.

Across campus, Rachel was sitting on the couch, trying not to cry. She knew Percy had broken up with her, and she knew she should be upset, and she was waiting for the onslaught of emotions to hit her.

“Are you okay?” She hadn't noticed Clarisse sitting across from her, and nearly jumped off the couch when she spoke. “You look like you're going to either cry or throw up, or both.”

“I'm fine.” Rachel said, but her voice broke as she tried to say fine, and Clarisse sat beside her.

“What happened?” She asked quietly.

“Percy broke up with me.” She whispered. “He left a little while ago.”

“Oh, I'm sorry honey.” Clarisse said. “Do you want me to get Annabeth? She's better at this.”

“No.” Rachel said a little too quickly. “I mean, I know she's really busy, and I wouldn't want to bother her.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Clarisse asked, but Rachel shook her head.

“I think I'm okay, but do you know where Thalia is? I had something to ask her.”

“I think she's upstairs in her room.” Clarisse said. “She got back from class and hasn't left.”

“I'm going to go talk to her, but thanks for the hug.” Rachel said.

“No problem.” Clarisse said, and Rachel got up, heading for the stairs. She passed Annabeth's door and couldn't help but stop for a moment, wondering what Annabeth was doing. But instead of knocking she went to Thalia's room.

“Oh hey Rachel.” Thalia said as she opened the door. “What's up?”

“Percy broke up with me.” She said, and Thalia's mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, before closing it again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure I guess.” Thalia said.

“Is Annabeth in love with Percy?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Thalia sighed and stepped aside so that Rachel could come into her room.

“Okay before you freak out, Annabeth would never do anything to harm your relationship.”

“So she is?” Rachel asked. “In love with him?” Thalia sighed and leaned on her desk.

“Yes.” Rachel wasn't sure what to say. It was one thing to suspect Annabeth of having feelings for Percy, but the confirmation from Thalia was so certain.

“Has Annabeth told you she loves him?” She asked. “Or are you just guessing?”

“She told me.” Thalia said. “I'm sorry.”

“No it's not your fault.” She said, and she went for the door. “I'm going back to my room. But can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Don't tell Annabeth I know.” And she left.

The next day when Percy woke up, the realization that he had broken up with Rachel stuck out in his mind. He was relieved he had finally done it, and his excitement at the possibility of seeing Annabeth that night was building. When Juniper showed up ready to go he brushed his teeth and followed her and Grover to the house. It was packed as usual, and they pushed their way in, making it to the kitchen. Percy didn't see Annabeth or Rachel anywhere, but he did spot Thalia, making a beeline for her. She saw him coming, and her expression darkened.

“Hello.” She said, all business. “What are you doing here?” Her voice wasn't accusatory, but curious as Percy told her, “Grover and Juniper convinced me that I needed to get out.”

“So you came here?” Thalia asked. “Where Rachel, the girl you broke up with yesterday, lives.” _And Annabeth_ , he couldn't help but think, _Annabeth lives here too_.

“Oh I get it,” Thalia continued, and as though she could read his mind, “you want to see Annabeth.” She motioned for the stairs. “Well go ahead I won't stop you.” Percy stared at her and she smiled at him. “Don't worry, I've known for a while.”

“Known what?” Percy asked. Thalia rolled her eyes.

“That you're crazy about her.” Percy laughed nervously and walked away, leaving Thalia to watch him head up the stairs. He looked back at her and she gave him a small wave, before going back to the conversation she had left when Percy sought her out. He turned towards the door he knew was Annabeth's, and thought about the first time he had been in that room. _You drool when you sleep_. He laughed at the memory. She had been so ticked off at him, and all he had done was stare at her. Looking at her door now he was nervous, taking a deep breath before walking up to it. Before he could knock it opened, and Annabeth stood in the doorway, toothbrush in hand.

“Oh!” She said, smiling as she saw him, “Hi.”

“Hi.” Percy said softly, “Are you brushing your teeth?” He asked, trying not to laugh, “It's not even midnight on a Saturday.”

“So? I want to go to sleep.” She walked by him and into the bathroom, pulling a tube of toothpaste from the cabinet behind the sink and went about brushing her teeth. As soon as she could no longer speak, Percy decided this was his chance.

“I broke up with Rachel.” He met her eyes in the mirror as she straightened, the surprise in her face evident. She spit and continued to look at him.

“Okay.” She said quietly, before going back to brushing her teeth.

“I broke up with her yesterday and I needed to see you.” He said. “I need to talk to you.”

“About what?” Annabeth asked after spitting again. She finished brushing and rinsed her mouth out, before walking back to her room. She left the door open for him to follow and put her toothbrush away, before turning to him.

“What do you have to talk to me about?” She asked, crossing her arms and staring warily at him.

“I broke up with Rachel because of you.” He said, deciding that he had to lay it all on the table. “Ever since I met you, you are all I can think about.” He could see her eyes widen a bit at the last part of what she said, and he hoped that Juniper was right. Because if there was even the slightest chance she felt the same way, this was worth it. But instead of telling him that he was all she could think about she took a step back and whispered. “Okay.”

“And I cared about Rachel, and I tried not to think about you, but no matter what I did you were always there.” He could see her eyes softening and could have sworn tears were gathering as she brought her hand to her mouth, covering it for a moment and choking back a sob. “Annabeth?” He said softly, and stepped toward her. When she didn't move he stepped closer, reaching out to her. He was so close, but he needed her to take the final step, to join their hands, their lips, anything so that he would know she felt the same way. And she did. Moving slowly first, letting her feet slide closer to him as she reached for his hands. Slowly she laced their fingers, before looking up and meeting his eyes.

“You're the reason I broke up with Luke.” She told him. “After winter break I couldn't keep letting him think I was happy with him.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hands in hers. “You are one of the most irritating people I have ever met.” She continued and Percy couldn't help but laugh, before she stepped closer, taking one of her hands to cover his mouth, keeping him from responding. “But you are also the best person I have ever known, and I-” She stopped taking a deep breath. “I love you.” Percy's eyes widened for a moment, but before he could respond, Annabeth had wrapped an around around his neck and kissed him. Percy's arms went around her in an instant, crushing her against his chest as he kissed her back. She was taller than Rachel, but Percy still had to bend his head to reach her, practically lifting her as he kissed her. Not liking the awkward angle Annabeth pulled back for a moment and jumped, laughing as Percy took as step back, Annabeth's legs settling around his waist as she kissed him again. Percy pulled her closer for a moment before breaking off their kiss, smiling at her as they both gasped for air.

“Whoa.” Annabeth whispered, and Percy laughed and then looked at her intently. “What?” She asked when he continued to stare at her.

“Nothing just,” he paused for a moment and shrugged, “I love you too.” Annabeth laughed and kissed him again as Percy walked to the corner where her bed was, falling on top of her as his knees collided with the frame. Laughing as he pulled away Percy looked down at Annabeth who still had her eyes closed with a smile on her face. A smile that disappeared as her eyes opened.

“Percy.” Her voice was soft. “We can't do this.”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, pulling away.

“You broke up with Rachel yesterday, we can't do this to her.”

“I think you're right.” He said. “But I'm going to wait for you.”

“What do you mean?” Annabeth said as she sat.

“I'm going to wait until you're ready. I don't care how low it'll be, but I love you, and I'll wait.” Annabeth felt a sting in her eyes, and she hugged Percy close to her, giving him a soft kiss before standing up with him, and watching him leave. Percy walked out of the house and went back to his dorm, texting Grover that he had gone home, and fell asleep immediately. Annabeth waited until she knew he was gone, and then went downstairs for a moment, finding Thalia.

“I have to talk to you.” She said, and Thalia nodded, following her friend up to her room.

“What's going on?” Thalia said. “With you and Percy I mean.”

“He kissed me.” Annabeth said. “Or I kissed him, I don't know, but I told him I loved him, because I do, and he told me he loved me.”

“Whoa.” Thalia said. “Are you guys gonna date?”

“No.” Annabeth said. “I can't do that to Rachel.”

“So even though you love him, you're going to not date him?”

“Not yet.” Annabeth said. “I just couldn't do that to Rachel.”

“That makes sense, but how long are you going to wait?” Thalia asked. “He's good looking and nice enough that he could meet someone else over the summer.”

“I know.” Annabeth said, but she believed that he would wait.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only Two Chapters left!


	16. Summer

Finals made putting Percy out of Rachel's mind easier than she thought. She had loved him, but she hadn't felt the same way. Not about her at least. Rachel hadn't actually talked to Annabeth much since Percy had broken up with her. So she spent most of her time studying, doing the work necessary to get through the end of the year. She also learned to study in her room, or out of the house, away from the common areas where she could run into Annabeth. Once it was time to move out for the summer however, Annabeth confronted her.

“Have you been avoiding me?” Rachel looked at the bag at Annabeth's feet. She was leaving the next day, and had brought a few suitcases down. Thalia would be driving her to the airport in the morning, and Rachel knew Annabeth was excited to go home.

“Uh, what makes you say that?” Rachel asked, not meeting Annabeth's eyes.

“Well, you haven't talked to me since the party we had, and you don't spend any time out here with the rest of us.” Annabeth had her hands on her hips as she waited for a response.

“I'm not avoiding you.” Rachel said. “I've just been really busy.”

“Is this about Percy?” Annabeth asked, crossing her arms. “Because if it is just tell me.” Rachel looked up at the pained expression on Annabeth's face, and sighed.

“Yeah, it's about Percy.” Rachel ran her fingers through her hair, pushing the curls away from her face. “How are you guys?”

“Uh, I'm fine.” Annabeth said. “I haven't talked to him in a few weeks.”

“Really?” This surprised Rachel. “Weeks?”

“Well, yeah.” Annabeth's expression had softened. “He just broke up with you.”

“I know but-” Rachel stopped herself. Even though it seemed to be common knowledge how Percy and Annabeth felt about each other, Rachel had never brought it up with her friend before.

“But he's in love with you.” She said finally. The silence that stretched between the two friends was agonizing as Annabeth stared at Rachel. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't deny it, Rachel would see through that in a heart beat. But if she knew Percy loved her... did she know that Annabeth felt the same way? As if Rachel could read her mind, she rolled her eyes and said. “And you clearly want him too.”

“I'm sorry.” Annabeth said eventually, sitting on her suitcase. “I did not want this to happen.”

“I don't blame you.” Rachel said, and she sighed, forcing a smile at her friend. “It's really not your fault. You're Annabeth.”

“And you're my friend.” Annabeth said. “I wouldn't do that to you.”

“I think you have to.” Rachel said. “You guys make each other happy. I've seen it.” Annabeth nodded, and felt tears in her eyes.

“And you're sure you would be okay with that?” She asked eventually. “you're sure?” Rachel thought for a moment. She had loved Percy, and in his own weird way he had loved her. Just not how she wanted him too.

“I think I will be.” She smiled at Annabeth and walked forward to her, embracing her friend in a long needed hug.

“Thank you.” Annabeth whispered as she clung to her friend. When Annabeth woke up the next morning she looked at her phone, realizing that it was later than she thought. Pulling herself together and getting the car packed quickly, she and Thalia made it to the airport on time. Right before turning off her phone she thought about texting Percy, telling him that Rachel had given her blessing to their relationship, and that she wanted to be with him more than anything else. But she decided that there was no point in starting something over the summer, and put it away, looking out the window until she fell asleep, waking up in California.

Percy on the other hand woke up to his phone going off. He checked it and was surprised to find a text message from Rachel. _You need to ask her out_ , it said, _she'll say yes_. Percy didn't have to be told who the unnamed she was, and he smiled. He had heard from Thalia that Annabeth had already left for California, but he wanted to make sure that she knew he would wait for her. Sending a quick text to her, he fell back asleep, deciding that he could waste a few more hours.

When the plane landed, Annabeth checked her phone and smiled. Rachel told her to have safe flight, Thalia told her she had left a pair of headphones in her car, and Percy had told her he would be waiting for her when she got back to the east coast at the end of the summer. She bit her lip and smiled, pulling her sunglasses on and starting her summer happily, no longer dreading it, but hoping it would go by fast, so that she could get back to Percy sooner.

The days turned into weeks easily for Annabeth. She worked five days a week and spent the other two either sleeping or at the beach, her hair becoming blonder as her skin began to tan. Somehow she managed to break two pairs of sunglasses, and almost lost her favorite baseball cap over the side of a boat. She thought of Percy, but never quite worked up the courage to make contact, choosing instead to let her memories of him fuel her until August when she would be going back. She looked at her calendar and smiled, it would be less than a month before she would be going back now, and the anticipation of seeing all of her friends (not just Percy) practically made her hum with excitement.

One afternoon while she sat on the couch she got a call from Thalia.

“How is your summer going?” Thalia asked, and Annabeth pulled her legs beneath her, smiling as she thought about the last few weeks.

“I basically work and then come home and sleep, occasionally beat my brothers at board games, all the usual vacation things.”

“Well how would you feel if Rachel and I came and visited?” She asked. “Her dad is willing to fly us out there.”

“Really?” Annabeth sat up straight. “He would do that?” There was a sound on the other end of the line.

“Okay.” Thalia's voice said, with somewhat of an echo. “You're on speaker phone.”

“Hi Annabeth!” Rachel's voice was excited. “It would be next week are you free?”

“Of course!” Annabeth said. “I'm sure I can take at least two days off, I'm never late, and I never take my vacation days during the summer. I'll get someone to cover.”

“That's awesome.” The three girls talked for a while longer, and Annabeth was happy to have her friends back. The end of the year had been so uncertain and awkward, she was thankful for the familiarity that speaking to them had.

“Okay, well let me know when your flight is getting in, and I'll come get you.” Annabeth said, marking on the family calendar the date that Thalia and Rachel would be arriving, along with the date a few days later when they would depart.

“Okay, it'll probably be in the morning since we're a few hours ahead.” Thalia said. After their plans were complete Annabeth hung up and smiled. She was excited to see them, and hoped that their time in California together would be as enjoyable as the time they spent at school together.

When she picked her friends up from the airport, Annabeth hugged both of them close, all three of them giggling as they packed into Annabeth's car.

“How was your flight?” She asked, and Rachel immediately began to tell her about the grumpy TSA lady who got mad at her.

“It's not my fault my hair is so curly!” She said, and pulled at one of the red strands. “She thought I might be hiding something in it, and started poking it.”

“I did not have that problem.” Thalia said, running her fingers through her own short hair.

“She kept pulling on it.” Rachel said, “And then she had me step aside because I was irritaed about it.”

“You can't get mad at TSA, Rachel.” Annabeth said, “They take their jobs very seriously.”

“Oh I know.” Rachel said, “But we were running late, and I didn't want to miss the flight because they thought my curly hair was hiding something.” The rest of the ride they talked about the people on the plane. From mother's holding their children in their laps, to business men who did nothing but read the paper, Thalia and Rachel took Annabeth through them all. When they made it back to Annabeth's they unpacked quickly and then went for a walk to the beach, Rachel running into the water so that it lapped at her knees, sighing at how good it felt.

“As much as I love being here, I think Thalia and I should nap.” She said, and stretched her arms over her head.

“Nope.” Annabeth said. “Not gonna happen, we're getting you on California time right now.” She took her friends everywhere she could that afternoon. Keeping them awake until Rachel basically collapsed, and Annabeth finally gave up.

“Alright I'm going to sleep.” Rachel said at 9PM. “I'll see you guys in the morning.” Thalia stayed with Annabeth for a little while, having slept on the plane for a few hours.

“She's really happy to be here.” Thalia said. “She was so excited on the plane.”

“I'm glad.” Annabeth said. “I missed her.” Thalia nodded.

“I know you did.” She sighed and yawned, “When we get back to school and you start dating Percy, just make sure that you still leave time for her.”

“How do you know that I'll start dating him as soon as I get back?” Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest and watched Thalia walk towards the guest room she and Rachel were sharing.

“Oh please.” Thalia said over her shoulder. “It's going to happen.”

The three girls spent the next week doing everything that Annabeth's corner of California had to offer. The beach, the mall, sunsets on top of a hill, anything that Annabeth could show them in the short time they were with her. Annabeth was glad to be spending so much time with Rachel, and noticed that Thalia often took the back seat in the car, or the opposite side of the booth, to make sure Rachel had a chance to be closer to Annabeth. She was grateful for this, and pointed it out.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Thalia said, but her smile said otherwise. “What are we doing for our last night here?”

“I'm taking you to the ice cream place that my dad used to take me to every time school was out for the summer.”

When it was time for Rachel and Thalia to head back to the East Coast, Annabeth dropped them off at the airport and hugged them both goodbye.

“I'll see you in a few weeks!” She said, and waved out the window as they stood on the sidewalk, looking for the entrance that would get them to their airline the quickest. She drove home in silence, a smile still on her face and sat on the couch when she got back. She would have work the next day, and while she would be happy to get back into her routine, she was only going back for two weeks before leaving for school. August 17th was the day of her flight. She had bought the ticket months ago, and had even gotten special permission to get back to campus early, as some of her things were being shipped east, and she wanted to leave time for them to get there.

Her last day at work, Annabeth took the long way home, driving with the windows down and her arm hanging beside the car, smiling as she looked at the landscape that she had grown up in. On the 16th she packed up her dad's car and went to bed early, ready to get back to school. She texted Thalia in the morning telling her when her flight would get in. She turned her phone off and put it away, falling asleep again as soon as she sat down, and waking up as they landed. Her phone had one new text from Thalia. But instead of telling her that she would be there, and not to worry, or to have a safe flight, it was just two words that made Annabeth's breath catch and her heard pound. _Percy's here._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left! Yay!


	17. Cupcake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here's the last chapter! It's pretty long, but I hope you like it!

She and Thalia didn't talk about Percy on the way back to school. Thalia asked her about her final days at work, and how her father had been over the summer. Annabeth responded as slowly as she could, not wanting to run out of things to say before they made it back to the house. When the car ride that seemed to go on forever finally ended, Annabeth and Thalia pulled Annabeth's bags into the house and up to the room she was going to be living in for a second year in a row. She looked at her phone, and it wasn't until she sat down and thought about it that the panic set in. Percy hadn't tried to get in contact with her. Was he over her? No. Could he be? Annabeth fell back on her bed and let her phone drop to the floor, hearing it thud as she sighed.

After getting some of her clothes put away, Annabeth heard a knock on her door. She opened it slowly, and found Rachel standing in the hall.

“Oh hey.” Annabeth said and stepped out of the way, letting her friend into the room. “When did you get back?”

“Yesterday.” Rachel said and walked into the room, looking around at Annabeth's still mostly packed belongings. “You need some help?”

“Oh yeah sure.” Annabeth said. “That would be great.” She and Rachel worked in silence for a little while, sometimes exchanging information about their schedules, or what they were looking forward to most in the upcoming year. When most of the room was unpacked, Rachel went to the door.

“I haven't quite finished my room either.” She said, and opened it. But before she left she turned back to Annabeth. “Tomorrow is his birthday.” She said, her voice soft. “Just in case you didn't know.” Rachel smiled at her friend and closed the door behind her, going downstairs to her own room. Annabeth had known that Percy's birthday was August 18th, but she didn't know if he wanted to see her. He hadn't tried to make contact with her, and even though he knew she was back, he hadn't tried to see her. But she knew she had to do something. Heading downstairs she looked in the cupboards around the room and found everything she was looking for.

A few dorms away just waking up from a nap, Percy looked to the door that was opening. He heard Juniper talking as Grover unlocked the door, and they walked in together.

“Hi Percy!” Juniper said and smiled at him. “How was your summer?”

“It was good.” He said and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

“Also happy birthday.” Juniper said. “Just in case I don't see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks June.” Percy smiled at her and turned to Grover. “What are we going to do for my birthday tomorrow?”

“Well.” Grover said. “Funny you should ask.” And he pulled out his phone, handing it to Percy. It was a text from Thalia. _Annabeth just got back_.

“You asked when she was coming back?” Percy asked, handing Grover his phone. “She didn't even tell me.” Percy sighed and leaned back against the wall. He had missed Annabeth all summer, but when she hadn't called or texted him once, he felt like she didn't want him anymore. He still loved her, that much he knew, but did she feel the same way?

“You should go over there.” Grover said. “To see her.”

“Not yet.” Percy said. “I can't go yet.”

“Why not?” Juniper asked. “You have to talk to her.” But Percy shook his head, and laid back, ignoring both of them as he tried to fall back asleep.

Annabeth finished her project before it was dark out, and decided that she was going to deliver what she had made now rather than later.

“And you're sure this is where he's living?” Annabeth asked Thalia, writing down the dorm number.

“Yes, Grover texted me a picture of the door look.” She showed Annabeth who nodded and headed for the front door. She walked to the dorm and waited until someone came out, letting her in in the process. Walking up to the third floor she found the door she was looking for and felt her heart speed up. He was on the other side of the door. Percy was here. She knocked softly, but got no response. Maybe the door was unlocked... She felt the handle, and was pleasantly surprised to find it unlocked. Pushing it open slowly she looked inside. The year before she had never been to Percy's. There had never been a reason. But now, as she looked around, it was obvious which side was his. The blue one.

She looked at the bed where a sleeping figure lay, and she smiled. He was face up, looking as peaceful as he had the first day they met. She left the small box on his desk and left without waking him up, careful not to step on anything on the floor as she went for the door, closing it behind her and walking down the hall, back towards the stairs.

When Percy woke up sometime later Grover was back. He still felt groggy, but now could at least sit up straight without yawning.

“Did Annabeth come over?” Grover asked when he saw that Percy was sitting up. “That why you're still tired?”

“No.” Percy said, confused. “Why do you ask?” Grover nodded to Percy's desk where a small box sat, with a card on top. _To Percy, Love Annabeth_.

“Whoa.” Percy said. “She must have been here when I was asleep.” He suddenly felt self conscious. Had he been drooling like last year when he had fallen asleep on her floor? He felt his chin, and looked back at the box. It was blue, and he couldn't help but smile at the fact that she remembered. He opened it and laughed, showing it to Grover. Inside was a single large cake like cupcake, with blue frosting, and a smiley face on top.

“You have to go see her.” Grover said. “There's no way she forgot about you.” Percy nodded, and smiled at the box in his hands,

“I'll go tomorrow.” He said, and smiled at Grover once more, before reaching into the box and taking the cupcake out. It was chocolate, and he bit into it, leaning back and closing his eyes, deciding that sleep would serve him well. He was going to see Annabeth the next day.

When Annabeth woke up the next morning she was still a little jet lagged, waking up late for the East, and yawning as she walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Well look who finally decided to wake up!” She heard Rachel's voice. “The Pacific Princess.” Annabeth rolled her eyes at her friend and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, working some of the knots out of her curly hair as she went.

“How did you sleep?” Rachel asked.

“Pretty well.” Annabeth said, and stretched her arms over her head as she cracked her neck. “But I'm still adjusting to Eastern Time.” She sighed. “It normally takes me two days.” They talked for a while longer until a knock on the door caught both their attention.

“It's open!” Rachel called, and it opened slowly. Annabeth wasn't looking towards the door, but when Rachel's eyes widened, she had a pretty good idea of who was standing behind her. She could feel his eyes on her, and she smiled, slowly turning. He looked even better than he had in May. The summer had done him good. His hair was longer, his face darker, but his eyes still a piercing green that made her heart beat quicken.

“Hi.” He said softly, hands shoved in his pockets. “I got your cupcake.”

“Oh.” Annabeth said. “Yeah, sorry about that. You looked so peaceful sleeping I didn't want to wake you up.”

“That's okay.” Percy said, and he took a step closer to her, smiling. Rachel sighed and headed for her room without saying a word, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.

“You think she's going to be okay?” Annabeth said. “This is going to be weird for her.”

“She has to be okay.” Percy said. “Because without you I'm not okay.”

“Wow, what a wordsmith.” Annabeth said, but the second half of her remark was stopped as Percy moved closer to her, his arms going to either side of her, pinning her against the counter.

“I missed you.” He told her, leaning closer. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” She said, and reached up for him, hugging him close to her as he lifted her from her stool. Annabeth giggled as she wrapped around him, pulling back to look at him.

“You want to go up to my room?” She asked, locking herself more securely around him, letting her ankles rest just above his butt. He nodded and started walking towards the stairs, Annabeth still smiling at him. When they reached her room, she slid down from his arms and closed the door behind him, leaning on it and looking up at him.

“I missed you so much.” Her told her. “Do you still...” He stopped for a moment, and took a deep breath. “Do you still want to-” She had started laughing. “Why are you-” But before he could finish she had pushed off the door and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her.

“I missed you too.” She told him, and finally kissed him. Percy pulled her up against him, her feet leaving the ground as he locked his arms around her waist, kissing her as he walked back to her bed and fell on top of her.

“I love you.” He said pulling away, and looking down at her. Annabeth sighed and looked like she was going to cry. But instead she smiled and kissed him again, rolling over him and pulling back.

“I love you too.” She went for the hem of his shirt and waited for him to sit up slightly, letting her pull it off. When he did the same, she was more than happy to throw her shirt across the room. His hands went to her back, unclasping her bra and slowly pulling it away from her skin, trailing slow kisses along the skin of her neck down to her chest. Annabeth closed her eyes and sighed. She had waited so long for him, but she knew it was worth it. She felt it in the way he slowly rolled over her again, his fingers working at the button on her shorts, and the way he seemed to whisper against her skin how he loved her, and wanted only her. Annabeth kissed him again as she shed the last on her clothes, helping Percy do the same before he looked down at her, both poised for a moment that seemed to be months in the making. Annabeth's hands found his hips and pulled him down to her, wrapping her legs around his back and sighing as he moved with her. Her head fell back and she closed her eyes, mouth hanging open as he bit down gently on the side of her neck, leaving little kisses and bites all along her skin until he found his way back to her lips. He began to move faster, and Annabeth held onto him, finally opening her eyes and meeting his, her hands slowly moving up to his hair and pushing it off his forehead. _I love him_ , she thought to herself, and couldn't help but smile.

When both were spent, Annabeth laid with her head on Percy's chest, making circles in his skin as he kissed her hair.

“So are we a couple?” Percy asked. “I didn't have a chance to ask you before.”

“I think so.” Annabeth said, but she was laughing again. “Unless you just want to be friends.” But Percy shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, holding tight as she squirmed.

“Nope, you're mine now, and I'm not letting you go.” Annabeth smiled and closed her eyes. It wasn't even noon and she was ready to spend the entire day in bed with Percy. When it was clear he felt the same, she pulled on a tee shirt and laid down beside him, telling him all about her summer break, and he did the same. They talked for hours, holding hands as their legs intertwined.

“Want to stay here tonight?” Annabeth asked when it started to get dark out. “Please just stay. We can go get some food, or order something in, and just stay here until tomorrow.”

“That sounds amazing.” Percy said. “What kind of food?”

“Pizza?” Annabeth said, and Percy smiled.

“I knew there was a reason I loved you.” Annabeth laughed and got up, going to her phone and dialing the number of the local place they always ordered from.

“Hello?” A cheerful voice picked up

“Hi, I wanted to order a large pizza with-” She turned to Percy. “What do you want on your half?”

“Pepperoni.” He said.

“With one half pepperoni, and on half black olive.” She said. Percy looked at her with a confused expression.

“Black olive?”

“Best topping there is.” She said. When the pizza arrived, Annabeth was reluctant to put clothes on, but she knew she had to. Paying for the pizza she grabbed a couple cups and a bottle of soda left over from the year before and went back to her room, dropping the pizza on Percy's still bare chest and took off her pants and sweater, laying down beside him in the tee shirt she had been wearing before.

“You are the best.” Percy said. “Pizza and sex, it's all I could ever ask for.” Annabeth laughed as she picked up a piece, taking a bite before going for the soda she had brought with her. They sat and ate together for a while, continuing their conversation before, and talking about nothing in particular until both were full.

“Put the box on the floor.” Percy said, and Annabeth dropped it, rolling on top of him and kissing him.

“You taste like cheese.” She laughed.

“Well you taste like olives.” He said, and grabbed her hips. Annabeth sat up and straddled him, pulling her shirt over her head. She adjusted and sighed as she began to move, his hands gripping her tightly as she used her hands for balance, splaying them on his chest. Her breathing began to pick up as his hands pushed her to go faster, and she leaned down to kiss him again, giving him the space he needed to flip on top of her. He held one of her legs behind her knee and moved with her until he went still for a moment and let his weight fall on her.

“You are amazing.” He said. “But now it's your turn.” And he started kissing down her chest, pushing her legs apart and kissing the inside of her thigh until his tongue found what it was looking for. Annabeth gasped and held tight to the pillow behind her, pulling it in front of her face to soften the moans that were coming from her mouth. He heard her say his name, a couple _oh my gods_ , and at once point, he was sure a giggle. But when she started to shake he only held her tighter, using his hands as well as his mouth until she had to beg him to stop. Removing the pillow from her face Annabeth looked down at him, her eyes hooded as she tried to regain the ability to think.

“ _You_ are amazing.” She said as he kissed his way up her body, smiling down at her.

“I know.” He said, and laid beside her.

“Grab my shirt will you?” She asked, and he handed her the shirt she had thrown from her body before. “And get the pizza.” She said. “I'm hungry again.” He laughed softly as he did as she asked, sitting beside her with an arm around her shoulder. She pulled her laptop out and put on a movie, the two of them eating pizza and drinking soda straight from the bottle, the cups she had brought from the kitchen all but forgotten. It felt right. That was all Annabeth could think about. How right it felt to be in his arms, laughing and talking with him, so comfortable just being near him. She fell asleep in his arms that night, and thought about the year ahead of them. She loved him so much, and so different from how she thought she had loved Luke. When she thought about her future, Percy was always there, and she hoped that the permanent feeling that he gave her stuck around, because there was nowhere she would rather be than in his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada we are finished. I'm working on a couple new things right now, so check out my other stuff! Yay thanks. Alright I hope you enjoyed this. It was fun to write.


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